The Thin Line
by wade wells
Summary: An unexpected event changes the course of a Voltron member's life. Lotor gains more power and a love triangle begins to develop. Part 5 of my series.
1. A New Threat

**_Welcome to Part 5 of my Voltron series. This story takes place hours after "My Own Worst Enemy" left off. I hope you like it. It is quite...different._**

**_An incredible thank you to my editors Kristina Marie and Mertz. I couldn't do it without them. My goodness, they are awesome._**

**_Alright, how you like it! Please tell me your thoughts. I am always interested in knowing what you guys think!_**

**_All disclaimers apply!!! Have a happy journey...._**

A New Threat

Silence roars within the walls of the room of Keith's office as three occupants feel the cool weightless air that exits the vents on the ceiling. The information Merla relayed to both Keith and Allura moments ago fill both Voltron pilots with mixed and dreadful feelings. Merla watches as the Captain continues to process the information, noticing both frustration and anger emanating from him.

His sudden shifting in his seat disrupts her thoughts. Leaning forward, shoulders hunched, his arms on his desk, he asks her. "So, the Denubian Galaxy possesses five crystals from Galia?"

"Yes Keith." She answers with a tone of regret. "Five crystals so powerful, they can destroy the entire galaxy should they fall into the wrong hands."

"If Lotor acquires them, I don't want to think about the consequences." Allura shivers, feeling the now frigid air around her. Standing to stretch, she runs over Merla's information in her mind once more, suddenly feeling tenser than she felt when she walked into the office earlier.

"That's exactly why we must stop him Princess." Merla quickly tells her. "My informant believes that Altea holds one of the crystals. Lotor not only captured some of the inhabitants, but he destroyed almost the entire planet. He also captured the princess of Altea and I'm absolutely certain that he'll use her as leverage and trade her for the crystal."

"How can we be sure that Altea has the crystal?" Keith asks. "Do they even know they possess it?"

"The crystal's there. My informant confirmed it." Merla cuts him off. "Keith, we have to find that crystal either way. If Lotor possesses all five, we are all in for a hell of a fight."

"Do you know anything else about them?" Keith asks, taping his fingers on the desk.

"Unfortunately, I do not. My informant found out there are five. He will contact me when he finds out more about these crystals."

Allura turns around and takes her seat once again, "When do we leave?"

Keith leans back, "We need to give Hunk some time to heal," he answers. "Do you think Elios would know more about the crystals?" He asks the princess matter-of-factly.

"Elios?" Merla questions, "Who's this Elios?"

"A sorcerer." Allura tells her. "He may provide us with some information on the crystals."

Merla nods, _'I'll need to find out more information on this Elios.' _"So does this mean you will go and help these people, Captain?"

"Yes. I hate to intercept them when they will arrive close to Doom, but it won't do us any good to attack if Hunk can't fly." Keith sighs in frustration, "We'll have to intercept them on their way back to their territory."

"I wish I could offer you my fighters…"

Keith smiles at Merla and inwardly a chill overcomes her. "It's alright your Majesty. I understand why you need to maintain a low profile at the moment."

"Thank you Captain." She answers smiling back, although she smiles for a different reason, "You continue to call me Majesty, please call me Merla. All my friends do."

Allura sits up instantly at the flirtatious remark. She may be largely inexperienced in some areas, but flirting, well, that just isn't one. Lance taught her enough about flirting and she sensed it immediately in Merla's casual remark.

She turns to look at Keith with an expression that translates her current feelings. He clears his throat and looks over at the Queen, "Thank you Merla." He answers politely.

Allura inwardly rolls her eyes.

"I think we should all rest tonight." Keith stands up. "We all need it."

Both ladies stand up from their seats but neither offers to leave first. Taking notice, Allura quickly speaks up first, "Keith, I need about five minutes to speak to you about castle security."

"Sure Princess," he answers unsure why since they had already discussed it. "Merla, if you don't mind..."

"Sure Keith," she replies hiding her frustration but reminding herself many other opportunities await her, "I understand. Have a good night, both of you." Merla walks toward the door and exits.

Once they are alone, Allura walks over to the window releasing a heavy sigh of frustration, "I don't know why this woman brings the worst out of me!"

"Allura, she's just trying to help." He tells her as he walks behind her.

'_She's trying to do more that that!'_ but she holds her tongue. Now is not the time to discuss this issue, there were too many problems that needed to be solved. She rubs her eyes with her hand, her headache reminiscent of the horrific day that had passed.

"I'm going to bed." she mumbles turning around and walking toward the door. He quickly grabs her hand, stopping her from walking passed him.

Her nerves begin a duel with each other. Romelle's emotional state of mind seems wrecked for the time being. Sven had apparently betrayed everyone and Hunk almost died by the hands of his friend.

"Hey," he softly whispers and smiles at her. With his other hand, he tenderly brushes his fingers against her cheek.

"She's attracted to you Keith." she bluntly states to him.

He sighs, "I'm not attracted to her Allura." He answers. "I am however, very attracted to you."

She smiles at him. "You're insufferable." she gently replies as she tilts her head into the hand that still lingers in her cheek.

Noticing his tired look, she then asks him, "How are you holding up?"

Her smile fades when she notices his features hardening before he turns his back to her, "I couldn't save him Allura. I couldn't...help him."

"You did all you could."

Shaking his head, "You don't understand. I lost him before Allura. I couldn't save him from Haggar and now...if they somehow have him again..."

"Keith, we don't know that. Right now, we don't know anything. Let's not jump into conclusions. Besides, seeing Romelle like that... It brought too many damn memories from the past, memories that I have no interest in reliving." Allura adds.

Keith turns to her, "I promise you, I will do everything that I can so you don't relive these memories again, Allura. I promise to bring him back for Romelle...and for you."

"I know Keith." she tells him, taking his hand, "I know you will."

Keith could no longer restrain himself. He needs her, more than he probably realizes. Without hesitation he turns and pulls her into his arms, pushing his lips against hers. It takes her by surprise, but Allura doesn't pull back, instead she thrusts herself into the kiss, taking in all of his frustrations, his pain, everything he is releasing in this kiss. He pushes her against the wall deepening the kiss, his tongue dueling with hers as she runs her fingers through his hair. He breaks the kiss a moment later, but doesn't step away. Instead he puts his forehead against hers while staring into her eyes, holding her close to him. A moment later he reluctantly releases her, his eyes ablaze with his emotions, fear, frustration and desire.

Allura draws in a shaky breath, "Feeling a bit better?"

He answers her with a slow gentle smile, the emotion leaving his eyes, "When you are with me...yes."

"I will never leave your side, Keith."

"Nor will I yours." he replies. He takes her hand within his and walks her toward the door, "You need your rest." He kisses her forehead, "Goodnight, my Princess."

She smiles at him and nods. "Have a good night too." She replies then kisses his cheek. "Try to sleep ok?"

"It's my turn to pull night shift at the control room. But I promise to rest."

"Ok," she simply whispers. "I'll see you tomorrow." She gently pulls herself from his grip and walks out the door.

Once gone, Keith is left alone. Walking toward his window, he gazes out at the night sky. Full of regret, sorrow and an overbearing sense of failure, he silently prays for his lost friend. _'I will come for you Sven...I will not give up on you!'_

************

Merla walks down the hallway toward her room with a smile on her face.

She knows that the fall of the captain's friend still lingers inside his mind, occupying most of his thoughts. Powerless to rescue Sven from the sudden unexpected darkness that touched his life, Keith's guilt consumes him immensely and she knows it.

Merla remembers the look on his face, _'Kogane's not used to failing! That's good to know.'_

Her heart skips a beat at the thought of comforting, touching, _'loving him'_; only when the time was right.

'_If only he knew,'_ she tells herself inwardly. She walks into her bedroom as the doors close, "If only you knew, how much I want you." she finishes her thought aloud.

Walking straight to the balcony, she stares into the deep night. Closing her eyes, Merla takes a deep breath, remembering every feature of his face, the sound of his voice, his wonderful exotic scent. She wants him so much; the feelings begin to cloud her mind.

"There's only one way to dim this feeling." she states out loud. She smiles, "Kogane's not used to failing...and neither am I."

_****************_

Lotor walks into the cell occupied by the Princess of Altea. The petite young girl hovers in a corner of the cell, standing as far away from the Prince as the cell would allow. Her pale face portrays a terror that makes Lotor beam with pride. It makes her look so attractive, so desirable. He wonders how much more her terror would elevate if he provoked it even further.

Slowly he walks toward her and as he does, she whimpers in horror even more. As he creeps just inches away from her, she quickly falls to the floor in a fetal position, terrified of what he will do when he finally makes it to her.

She is surprised to see what he does next, he pulls her up gently. For a moment, she lets her guard down and this lack of judgment soon is penalized. Her eyes widened when she suddenly feels herself pushed against the wall. With his hand, he grabs onto her neck, squeezing it as he lifts her up. She tries to scream but no sound comes out, all the poor girl can do is gasp for air.

"I hope you are worth more to your father than the crystal." he roughly tells her as he squeezes her neck a bit harder, "Because if you are not, I'll make sure he has a great view of everything I'll be doing to you."

He lowers her slowly then releases her from his grasp. She coughs violently, and spits a small trickle of blood out of her mouth. He waits until she composes herself. Once the poor girl does, all that comes out of her mouth is her raspy voice, "What are you talking about? What crystal?"

"Your father knows and soon enough, you'll find out all the secrets Daddy hides from you!" he tells her as he grabs her by the hair and drags her out of the cell. She kicks and screams to no avail as she listens to his horrifying and sickening laugh.

-----------

The video monitor on the bridge of his ship bears the face of an anguished soul. The thin man had shed tears already. His eyes, red from previous crying, scream his sorrow.

Lotor walks onto the bridge dragging his prize, waiting to taunt the person on the screen. As soon as he sees the young girl on view, he screams in terror, "Lotor! Stop it! Release her you damn son of a bitch!"

"You can have her Abiser anytime you want, you can have her back. All I want is the crystal!"

Abiser grows even paler at the mention of the crystal.

"You didn't think I knew you are in possession of it?" Lotor laughs wildly. "I know about the crystals, Abiser; about their power and what all of them can do once together. I also know your family has guarded one of them for four generations. You don't have to worry about guarding it any longer. Today, I'm taking over that duty."

"You don't understand." Abiser breaks in, "That crystal was bestowed upon my family. It cannot leave this planet!"

"You have your choice, fool!" Lotor snarls picking up the princess once more and holding her by the hair. The girl screams once again, tears run down her eyes, pleading, "Daddy, please!"

"Sinah!" the King hollers in pain.

"It's your choice Abiser." Lotor replies taking a knife out of his side belt. He then slices the girl's cheek with the tip of the knife. Blood trails down her cheek and neck as she howls in pain and screams.

"Sinah! Stop it! I'll give it to you. The crystal is yours!"

Lotor smiles successfully. _'One down…four to go…'_ "Wait for my next call. I expect you to bring the crystal to Doom in two days."

The older man holds his head high even at the acceptance of defeat. "Alright," he replies softly. "But, why not do the exchange here?"

"I need you close to Doom in case you try to play hero. Your planet may be in ruins, but I still don't trust you. Don't let me down Abiser. Because if you do, the next show you'll watch is me doing things to your virgin daughter that will destroy her in every way imaginable."

"I said I will give you the crystal!" Abiser yells from the top of his lungs, "I'll save you Sinah, I will sweetheart!"

"See that you do!" Lotor snarls back before he cuts communications. He turns to the young girl and throws her on the floor.

"Guards! Take her to my quarters. Make sure she's cleaned up."

The guard moves in quickly, taking the young woman screaming and kicking out of the bridge.

He walks over to Raylek, who is at the helm, "Take over command for a while. I want to make sure Abiser has something to remember me by."

Reylek laughs maliciously with Lotor, "As you wish Sire."

************

Hunk opens his eyes to a beautiful sight. Selena smiles brightly at him, even though he could tell she had cried.

"Hey," he whispers softly.

"Hi," she replies with the same amount of softness in her tone, "How do you feel?"

"Surprisingly, not too bad," he tells with a stronger tone. "My shoulder is pounding though..."

She stands up from the chair she had been sitting on. "Let me increase the dosage just a little bit." she tells him as she injects some medication into his IV line.

"Hmmm. Better." he smiles. Suddenly his smile dissipates. "He left us, didn't he?"

She sits back down and holds his hand, "I'm afraid so Hunk. I'm sorry."

Shaking his head slowly in regret, Hunk keeps asking questions. He just had to know, "How's Romelle doing?"

"Dr. Gorma gave her a sedative to sleep through tonight. Tomorrow, however, will not be pretty."

"Shit! I can't believe he did that to her. I don't understand what is going on!"

Not wanting him to tire himself out, Selena tries to change the conversation for the better, "Well, it will do you no good to exhaust yourself. You all leave on a new mission in two days. Keith needs you ready by then."

"Where?"

"I have no idea. He passed by a little over an hour ago to check up on you and told me, but he didn't give me the specifics. I believe he said he'll brief all of you tomorrow morning."

Hunk nods and remains silent, possibly still thinking about Sven. Selena leans on over him, so her face aligns with his, "Hey,"

His gaze moves up to her eyes, "I'm glad that you are alright. You scared me, you know."

"I'm sorry." he simply tells her.

"Just don't do it again." she tells him smiling, "I don't want you hurt when we go out on our second date."

"You still want to go out with me, after almost killing your feet from all the dancing we did last time."

"Look at the bright side, no dancing this time," she giggles.

"What did you have in mind?"

"How about a nice picnic by the lake; we don't have to dance, but we can talk. Maybe find out a little more about one another."

Hunk smiles at his little red haired Goddess, "Are you asking me out this time?"

Tilting her head she answers him, "I guess I am Sergeant."

"Then I accept. When?"

"After you come back from your mission." She tells him. Then, unexpected to him, she leans closer to him, her lips align with his, "And if this date turns out even better than our first…" she pauses, placing her lips onto his and kissing him sweetly and softly, before continuing, "Then we can continue to a much more interesting third date."

Sighing with pleasure, Hunk simply answers her, "Wouldn't want it any other way, Selena. Wouldn't want it any other way."


	2. Deceptions

**Welcome to Chapter 2! As always, thank you to all my loyal fans and friends in this great community I am now part of! A special thanks to my editors, Mertz and Xia!**

**Hope you all like it so far!**

**2. Deceptions:**

The next morning part of team settles in the conference room for the briefing. As he walks in, Keith sees most of his team already sitting down waiting for him. He quickly takes his seat and greets the team with a short wave.

"The princess and I spoke with Queen Merla last night." he begins. "It seems Lotor has plans for a massive take over of the Denubian Galaxy and it has now begun. It is up to us to stop him."

"So, this meeting deals with Lotor?" Lance questions with a bit of disbelief in his tone, "I thought this meeting is about bringing Sven back!"

Keith sighs, he was afraid of this. He felt the same way too, but had to make a decision and right now, Lotor is the priority, "We don't have any leads on Sven's whereabouts at this moment. However, right now we do know where to find Lotor and what he wants." He answers in a cool, but controlled tone.

"What about Sven?" Darrell asks concerned as well.

"I'm not telling you that I'm stopping the search; but, right now, stopping Lotor is more important." He replies raising his voice a bit.

Just then, Hunk slowly makes his way into the room, "Good morning everyone."

"Hunk, you should be resting." Allura stands to help him to his seat.

"I'm ok Princess; Selena told me about the briefing. I want to be here."

"Well, get ready for this," Lance snorts angrily, "This briefing is not about bringing Sven back..."

Hunk turns to face Keith, "What is he talking about?"

"Hunk, we're meeting to discuss Lotor."

"Lotor!" Hunk growls. "Keith, what about Sven? How can you just leave him?"

"I'm not leaving him Hunk." Keith's frustration level increases, "I have to make the right decision and at this moment, Lotor is it."

Angry shouts erupt within the room. Hunk, Darrell and Lance speaking at the same time, their emotions in turmoil. Allura looks at Keith, and notices how his brow tightens and his eyes blaze. He takes a deep breath; too tired to continue controlling himself yells, "Enough!"

His voice is strong enough to stop everyone's shouting; even Allura's eyes widen, Coran almost jumps out of his seat. _'He sounds tired, tense…too angry.'_ Allura thinks as she watches him.

"I've made a decision and YOU WILL ALL obey my orders!"

"Keith…" Lance begins, but is immediately cut short.

Keith turns to Lance, his dark eyes blazing and burning into Lance's shocked stare, "Not another word Lieutenant! I have no idea where Sven is or what even possessed him to do this! Right now, we have a mission and I expect each of you to follow orders. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Lance answers defensively.

Keith ignores the tone of his response, turns to Coran and continues the meeting ignoring the incident, "Coran, did you get Elios on? He asks as he rubs his eyes to apparently clear them.

"Yes, Captain, allow me to patch him through," Coran answers him a bit uneasily too.

Moments later, Elios appears on screen. "Good morning Voltron Force."

At the sound of his words they either nod or greet the small man they see up on the screen,

"Good morning Elios," Keith states formally, "I apologize for making you search for this information with such little time, but I need to know what we are up against before departure."

"It's alright Captain, no trouble at all." Elios answers him. "When you called me last night, I knew this was important, so I gathered everything you need to know about the Crystals of Galia."

As he finishes his words, both Queen Merla and Prince Darien enter the conference room and take their seats.

"Good morning, you made it just in time your Majesty, Highness," Keith's tone is emotionless as he sees them walk in. Both the Prince and the Queen notice his curt behavior. Darien, about to open his mouth, is cut by Allura who appeases the situation, "Good morning, Elios was just about to tell us about the Galia Crystals."

"Go on Elios," Keith orders, ignoring the rest of the group.

Elios, a bit apprehensive upon seeing Merla, feels uneasiness about having her hear the following information. Keith had already briefed him on why Merla was there, but even thousands of miles away, he can still see the apprehension on Elios' face. He signals him with his eyes to continue, "Thank you Captain. Allow me to tell you all about the 5 crystals of Galia." the old man begins.

"Thousands of years ago Galia suffered a war much like the one the Denubian Galaxy faces today. During this war, many of the sorcerers and healers believed that in order to save their universe, they would need to combine their powers and hand them over to five honorable leaders that would bring peace across their universe. Together these healers created five crystals that contained both magic and healing powers. Their greatest powers locked into each stone. Unfortunately, the enemy nations found out about the crystals and an all out war erupted to attain the stones. The chosen leaders were captured and killed when they didn't reveal the whereabouts of the crystals."

Elios sighs lightly as he continues his tale, "What these enemy nations didn't know was that the chosen ones, knowing the crystals would destroy their galaxy if they fell into the wrong hands and also knowing that they were indestructible, flew out to the Denubian Galaxy and placed each crystal on a different planet. The crystals were placed on planets that where either depleted or had no power. The keepers of the crystals were promised that should they keep their crystal a secret and maintain their silence, in exchange, they would be repaid with a flourishing and prosperous planet. Today the planets have prospered due to the magic of the crystals, and their rulers continue to keep the crystals hidden from the rest of the galaxy."

"Do we know which planets have the crystals?" Darien inquires.

Elios' eyes look toward Darien, "If we knew, your Highness, we wouldn't have a problem locating them." Sighing, "Neither would Lotor for that matter." Elios gently acknowledges.

"But he has found one," Merla states, "How could he have found it?"

"Lotor brought back a type of magic, we know little about." Elios concludes. "My guess is that he is using this magic and found one of the chosen locations through it."

"Elios, can you help us locate them?" Allura asks. "We are willing to compensate you."

"I believe it will be a lengthy process Princess, but yes, I'm willing to help you." Elios answers.

"Thank you, Elios." Allura warmly smiles.

"What type of powers do these crystals hold?" Hunk then inquires curiously.

"I'm not sure." Elios answers, "I have every intention of finding out."

"So what do we do?" Lance asks. "Do we find the stones?"

Keith turns around...his facial expression not changing even after Elios has finished speaking, "Lotor has already found one of them. It was hidden on Altea."

Merla continues with the story. "My source told me that Lotor captured the Princess of Altea and will use her as a trade for the crystal."

"So we rescue the Princess and get the stone." Darrell states.

"Exactly," Merla answers.

Turning to face Keith, Lance asks, "When do we leave?"

"Lotor should be approaching Doom in two days. We'll attack from there."

"Wait," Darrell states immediately, "We're a defense team, and we've never initiated an attack."

"The rules have changed, Darrell." Coran speaks up regretfully, "If what Elios tells us is right, we need to get a hold of these crystals before Lotor does."

"Are there any more questions for Elios?" Keith asks the group. When no one answers, he turns to Elios. "Thank you Elios. Please contact us when you have more information."

"Will do Captain." Elios replies before transmission terminates.

Keith looks at his team, his expression eerily cold. Allura had studied him throughout the briefing and this was abnormal…not Keith's usual behavior. _'Keith is rarely angry.'_

"Darrell, make sure all lions are prepped. Hunk if you can help, do it...but I'd rather you rest for battle." Keith looks at Hunk and answers him with a controlled tone that even Hunk can tell is forced.

"Sure Chief," Hunk answers uneasily. _'Something is definitely wrong with him.'_

"Lance, work with Coran and run surveillance on Doom. I want to find out if they're working on any surprises. I'm only guessing, but I would think Lotor would want to do the trade on Doom territory. He'll have backup ready in case Altea retaliates."

"I'll work on it."

"Princess, contact Altea. Work with the King, offer him our assistance and see if you can find out anything that might help us."

"I'll do that." She tells him immediately.

"Are there any questions?" He asked taking a deep breath.

He looks at Darien, who stares while studying him intently. Keith ignores him and continues to survey the rest of the room.

As silence dominates the room, Keith takes the hint. "We won't hold practice today. Make sure you have everything ready before we leave." With that, the Captain stands up and leaves the room without a word of farewell to anyone.

"I think it's going to be a long day today!" Lance states after Keith leaves.

****************

Keith walks in to Dr. Gorma's office. As soon as he sees him, Gorma knows the Captain's urgency; the look on Keith's face tells him everything.

Aside from appearing tired, he looks irritated. Hard lines surround his mouth and eyes. Even his casual good morning seems forced and not very credible.

"How can I help you Captain?"

"The meds didn't work last night." he replies harshly.

"They didn't wake you?" Gorma asks concerned now.

"I wouldn't be here if they did!" he almost shouts, "I woke up having a panic attack that I'm still fighting. I can't work this way doctor! I just chewed out my team at our briefing this morning and if I continue this, the Prince will find a way to ground me. I can't afford that," he finishes quietly, "not right now."

Gorma sighs. He does not like what he is about to tell him, "I'm sorry Captain, I can increase your dosage but there will be increased side effects."

"What kind?' He answers taking a seat.

"Some of the side effects include nervousness, anxiety, headaches and dizziness. Nosebleeds are also a common effect."

Keith runs his hands through his hair in frustration, "It isn't any different than what I'm experiencing now. Do you have something to counteract some of the side effects?"

Gorma's eyes widen, "Captain, you can become an addict!"

"Dr. Gorma, I just found out Lotor is collecting possibly the greatest weapons known to this galaxy and if we don't stop him now, not even Voltron will to stop him if he acquires it."

"Captain..."

"I don't have any time for this doctor!" Keith's voice raises again, "Tell me who else will stop this maniac! The Prince is not ready and it will take months before Garrison can deploy a well qualified officer who can take my place. The Drules are attacking everywhere now."

Gorma stands up, frustrated himself by his options, "You'll need to promise me one thing."

"What is that?" Keith replies, even more frustrated.

"If I discover you getting sicker, I will stop giving you the meds and you will have to speak to Coran and the Princess."

"Fine." He answers roughly.

Gorma opens the drawer to his desk and takes out his prescription pad. He writes down the prescription and hands it to Keith. "Give this to the nurse at pharmacy. She'll fill it for you. I'm only prescribing one refill and I expect you to let me know if you are experiencing any of the symptoms I mentioned."

"Alright doctor," he replies sounding a little relieved.

"Have you experienced anything so far?" the doctor inquires.

"A nosebleed a couple of days ago, but mostly headaches." He answers lying, hoping that the doctor would ease up a bit.

Gorma nods when he hears the answer, "Damn it, you're starting to have side effects already and I haven't even increased your dosage." Shaking his head, he continues, "I'll increase the dosage starting tonight. Elios believes he is close to finding the Galia healer, hopefully you won't have to suffer too much longer."

Keith is silent; the doctor notes that the cold behavior is likely caused by the medicine in his system or the scare he must have experienced the night before.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Captain?"

Taking the paper from the doctor's hand, Keith answers as he stands up, "No." Pausing a moment as he looks toward the older man, "Thank you Doctor." He finishes then walks out of the room.

Gorma settles himself back in his chair and sighs deeply in frustration, "What the hell am I going to do with this kid?"

************  
Walking out of the conference room Allura feels a tap on the shoulder, "Darien, do you need anything?"

Knowing she is going to look for the Captain, Darien holds his tongue to keep himself from what he really wants to tell her. Instead, he gives her a look of concern, "Father's taken ill Allura."

Her concern immediately flashes across her face, "Oh God! Is he alright?"

"He will be with time, but I must go back to Novus and take over his duties until he is well again. I trust you will be alright while I'm gone."

"Of course," she replies trying to keep her sudden excitement from bursting. "I can take care of myself, but please let me know how the King is doing."

"Of course," He answers studying her eyes. "My shuttle is waiting. I'm sorry I won't be here to see you off on your mission, but take care of yourself."

"I will,"

Nodding slowly, he gently kisses her cheek, but he can not help to probe her a little before he leaves, "Of course dear. I'm sure the Captain will take good care of you."

Her sudden concern fades instantly with his last remark. "I hope your trip goes well, Darien!" she answers him with a tinge of disdain in her tone…bowing to him before she turns and leaves his sight.

Moments later, one of the guards arrives. "Your shuttle is ready Your Highness. We've already transported your luggage into the ship."

"Good, Malikite. Come, walk with me. I'd like you to do a small favor for me while I'm gone." Darien smiles at the young man as he looks at the Prince questionably.

*********

Sitting in his office, Keith tries to relax after taking the prescribed medication Gorma gave him moments earlier. His heart beats rapidly. He thought about taking another one of those damn pills, but even he has the common sense to know taking double the amount would not make him better in double the time.

Sighing, he lies on the sofa, and tries to stop the trembling he feels within his inner body. _'Damn it! Why can't I stop this fucking shaking?'_ An exasperated sigh escapes him as anger burns inside him for no reason. He shakes his head to clear it. _'Why do I feel this way!'_ he asks himself.

He sits up again, not knowing how to get comfortable. Anxiousness sets in and he curses himself for actually falling asleep and not hearing the damn alarm. _'I'm going to have to find another way, on my own.'_

Suddenly he hears the doors of his office swoosh open. He shoots to his feet as Allura walks in, his face a mask of concern, "Allura, has something happened?"

"I need to speak with you." she tells him, carefully studying him. She walks up to him, "You don't look good, Keith."

"I'm fine, Allura." he answers her coldly.

She continues to look at him, "No you aren't. Keith, please tell me what's wrong? This morning...you seemed angry. Tell me what's bothering you." She demands.

"Nothing's wrong Allura. I'm just tired." He answers her, controlling his nerves as best he can. _'I must control myself.'_

She steps closer to him, her face sympathetic, "You've been killing yourself for the last couple of months since you returned. Every time I look at you, you look more tired than the last. Keith, take the rest of the day off, rest."

Shaking his head immediately, he tells, "No, I'm ok. Besides, I want to run schematics for the mission."

"Why don't you take at least a couple of hours? You look like you haven't slept in days."

He walks away from her, making sure that she doesn't notice the trembling that continues to bother him. He walks to his desk, standing tall and like the fine actor he is turning into…able to hide the instability he feels.

"No, I'm fine." he tells her flatly. "Allura I have a lot of things to do, how about we talk a little later?"

"Keith, you're not fooling me!" She yells, becoming irritated. "You're killing yourself!"

"What the hell do you want from me!" he yells back, his eyes widening with anger toward her, "Lotor made his fucking way back here from the one place no one's ever been back from. He holds in possession a weapon that can potentially destroy us which I need to fucking find a way to steal back from him, of which I'm still trying to figure out how to do it…and on top of all this, one of my best friends may be working for him! Excuse me princess, if I find it _fucking_ hard to take a breather. _Excuse me_ if I'm a_ little_ preoccupied at the moment." He finishes breathing hard.

She's never seen him act this way. He has never spoken to her with such anger and sarcasm in the time she's known him. Without thinking, her anger now gets the better of her. She walks up to his desk, her heated gaze meeting his angry eyes. Her azure eyes glaze over in fury as she shouts back at him, "What the hell is wrong with you! _Excuse me Captain_, but you better get _your_ shit the fuck together! How the hell are you any good to us if you look like you're about fall apart at any minute? If you keep acting the way you did this morning, you won't have to worry about figuring anything out. I'll ground your ass so fast you won't know what the hell hit you! Now, you better rest. I don't want to see you until dinner." Allura turns around and heads to the door.

"Allura..."

"Don't Keith! I'm sorry about Sven. This is hard for all of us, but don't use him as an excuse. This thing with you has been going on since you returned from Doom. If you don't rest, I'll ground you. I don't like seeing you like this. Don't make me do something I don't want to do." With that, she leaves him…completely speechless.


	3. Beauty

Hi Everyone! Here is part three! Hope you enjoy!

3. Beauty

"Darrell, how long until they're in range?" Keith asks the Green lion pilot as he stares ahead at the vastness of space from a large cliff located on one of the moons of Doom. The last few days flew like a comet crossing through space. Now the fun was about to begin and they all feel eager to start.

Five lions, strategically placed on Zorar, one of Doom's moons, sit silently waiting for their prey. The farthest moon from Doom, Zorar is the perfect location to avoid detection and close enough to launch a surprise attack.

"Just under twenty minutes from line of sight, Captain."

Keith presses one of the video screen buttons so he can see all four at once. "Let's review the plan one more time. Lance,"

"I follow you to Lotor's ship; gain access through its hull; we go in to retrieve the Princess. After she's safe, we find the crystal."

Keith looks over to the Allura, "Princess,"

"Protect the King's ship; make sure no one gains access to it." She replies flatly meeting his eyes. Neither has spoken to each other in days since their last encounter. Keith ignores her behavior and continues.

"Darrell…Hunk,"

"Hold off any enemy fighters coming from Doom." Darrell replies. "But Keith, this all looks good in theory, but how long can we hold them off if Lotor sends out his entire cavalry. I'm sure that crystal is worth more to him than all of his men put together."

"At my word, the Princess will contact Abiser and he will launch an attack with his fighters. They'll serve as our back up."

"He's willing to do that?" Hunk asks surprised.

"Only after Keith and Lance have his daughter." Allura replies. "He doesn't want Lotor to know that we're helping him."

The last few minutes of waiting seem like a never ending labyrinth that has no end. All five lions wait for the enemy to appear, when suddenly they hear Darrell's voice from their intercoms.

"Estimated ETA fifteen seconds…"

All sit up straight within their cockpits.

"Commence attack on my signal." Keith's voice booms across their comms.

Seconds later the lions' prey appears. Moving through space slowly, Lotor's grand ship floats in the middle, surrounded by four one-man fighter ships on each corner. Slowly they enter Doom's airspace and turn their ships around facing the destination they had just came from, hovering in space and looking now like predators waiting for _their_ kill.

Keith notices Lotor's ship. This one was different from his current ones and he knows the reason why, "Son of a bitch." He whispers slowly.

"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Lance asks.

"Yep." He answers still studying the ship.

"What? What's wrong?" Allura questions.

"We can't attack his ship head on as planned." Keith answers flatly.

"Look at it Princess," Lance states in disgust. "Do you see the nose of the ship, that cone like shape the ship has in the front?"

"Yes,"

"That's the bridge, crew compartments and most likely that's where the Princess is being held at."

"Which means no frontal attack."

"Exactly!"

Keith then joins the conversation, "The middle part of the ship, those three long circular cylinders, those are hydrogen propellant tanks. While they are covered with a titanium metal to help protect it, if you hit those babies just right, the entire ship explodes."

"Which wouldn't be so bad, if the Princess wasn't in there." Lance remarks with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Why would Lotor choose such a ship?" Allura wonders. "He's so open for an attack."

"He used this ship on purpose." Keith reasons. "In case Abiser thought twice about attacking. He won't touch that ship if his daughter is in there."

"And I doubt anyone would attack Lotor…other than us of course." Lance concludes.

"The back looks like a Nuclear Propulsion System, most likely used for speed." Darrell continues. "It'll probably be your only entrance, but you'll need to know where to hit, you don't want that area to blow off either."

"Darrell, run a scan." Keith orders.

"Already on it."

Moments later the Green lion pilot finds an answer with excitement, "Yes! You'll need to hit the left side of the Propulsion, about thirty feet above the thruster. It's your only entrance."

"Look," Allura answers "King Abiser's ship, it's coming."

The five diamond shaped silver ships float toward Lotor's ships and stop within a couple of miles apart from each other.

"When do we attack?" Allura asks a bit nervously. She hates waiting; waiting doesn't help to ease the nerves.

"Now. Get to your positions." Keith exclaims softly as Black lion stands up on all fours.

--------

Lotor smiles as he stands on the bridge of his ship, looking at his view screen. He is so close, "The first step to total power," he tells himself proudly, "The galaxy will soon belong to me!" the words slip out of his mouth just as he feels his ship violently shake.

"Raysak! Report!" he yells furiously.

"It's the lions!" The half human, half cyborg being yells out. "They're attacking us!"

"They know about the crystal! Contact Abiser!" Lotor yells at one of his Drule soldiers. He has to act fast. If he knows the Force well, they would not only want the crystal, but also to save the damn Princess. Turning to another guard he orders, "Bring Princess Sinah!"

Within moments the King appears on the viewing screen.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Lotor demands as his ship shakes again.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Abiser replies with a forceful tone. "I came to give you what you want. All I want is Sinah."

Lotor stares at Abiser for a long moment, his stare slices through the King's temporary small strength and he suddenly feels scared. "Tell me Abiser, did you think you could fool me? Did you think you could make me believe that you didn't seek the help of the Voltron Force?"

"I did no such thing!" Abiser screams back. "I didn't contact them! I didn't even know they were here!"

"Fine. I believe you." He lies, "You want your daughter Abiser, come claim her and bring me what I want!" He cuts transmission." Lotor turns to Raysak. "Take your guards, seal all possible entrances, I'm pretty sure the little kitties are trying to infiltrate our ship."

Raysak begins to walk out of the bridge, but briefly turns to his leader before exiting, "I'm on it! Our forces on the planet have already launched and are attacking the lions."

"Good. Make sure our forces don't hit Abiser's ship and he gains access to this one."

"Yes, Sire!" Replies Raysak as he leaves the bridge.

Lotor runs over and connects to Haggar. The old witch appears on screen, she smiles evilly at the stone cold hard face Lotor holds, "I think I know why you're calling me."

"Haggar. Launch the RoBeast."

-----------

Keith and Lance's lions fly in through the opening Keith blasted seconds earlier in the area Darrell suggested. They quickly leave their lions but are immediately welcomed by a dozen of Lotor's soldiers.

"Take cover!" Keith yells as he hides behind the leg of his lion and retrieves his blaster from the holster.

Lance, without a thought, starts blasting at the Drules that come after him.

"We better do something!" He yells as he blasts three that run up to him, "They just keep coming in!"

Keith looks at the entrance where the Drules had entered, knowing he can not use any of his detonating devices at the risk of blowing up the compartment. His mind looks for a way to make it to the next level. His eyes widen instantly at the idea that popped in his head, "Gas them Lance. Use the Gas bombs!"

"Hello!" Lance answers him surprised. "We have no damn masks! We'll be knocked out along with them!"

"The helmets!" Keith yells back. "Darrell added a seal protector to the helmets!"

Without any further discussion, both men take out their grenades and throw them at the Drules. Within seconds the gas fills the room. Keith and Lance run toward the entrance where the Drules had originally come in.

Their eyes tear up as they head toward the door, their helmets not protecting them fully. Lance begins a coughing attack almost instantly and not too long later, Keith begins too. Luckily they run out quickly, only to be met by another group of Drules who lift their guns and start blasting at them.

"Lance! Get down!" Keith screams before he sees the blasts coming at him.

--------

Allura dodges a couple more Doom ships as they try to attack her Blue lion. She continues her vigilance of King Abiser's ship and at the same time, fires at the Doom ships to help Hunk and Darrell who seem to be taking hits from the bulk of the ships coming from the planet.

"How are you guys doing?" Allura asks as she fires stingray missiles at incoming targets.

"I've had better days Princess," Hunk replies flying over two one man fighters but not before he retrieves his ion knives and slicing them both. "They seem to be coming in masses, Keith and Lance better hurry up, I don't know how much longer we can last without the King's army."

"I know, I know." replies Allura as she destroys three incoming ships that come into range. Moments later, she notices a ship leaving King Abiser's larger cruiser. "Darrell, Hunk, there's a ship leaving the King's craft. Make sure it is protected when it comes into your ranges."

"Got it!" Darrell answers. The Green lion pilot is himself fighting off four ships coming at him. It never ceases to amaze him that every time he is in battle, he feels like he is playing some type of video game, except that if he gets hit, he won't have an extra two lives to play around with. Still, it is the only way to view his world without letting the harsh reality of his situation convert him into some type of bi polar crazy person. At the moment, he feels he is completing the first level of his video game and he is scoring major points.

"Let see how you like my proton missiles!" Darrell shouts out loud as he fires at enemy ships coming at him and blasts them, igniting four fireballs in space. "Hey Princess, the King's ship is entering Lotor's."

"It's the trade. He wants the trade to happen on his ship." Allura answers.

"You think the King's in there?" Darrell asks as he observes the ship disappear within the larger one.

"I don't know, but it wouldn't' surprise me."

"Well, it's up to Keith and Lance now." Hunk states as he destroys two more ships and instantly notices that Doom is not spitting out any new ones. "Hey, something is going on. There are no more ships coming from Doom."

"That's because something else is," Darrell answers instantly when he sees a huge white fireball leave Doom and head toward them. _'I think we've passed through the first level of the game,' _"Guys, look, twelve o'clock!"

_______________

Keith pushes Lance to the side, barely missing the grenade the Drules threw at them.

"How come _they_ didn't blow the damn ship off?" Lance asks, still down on the floor.

Keith didn't immediately answer; he quickly takes out his blaster once again and begins firing at the incoming guards. "Must be a contained area capable of withstanding blasts! Want to help me out, Lieutenant?"

"Hell yeah!" Lance shouts as he sees more guards coming. He takes out a black ball from his back pack and throws it at the mass of running guards. The ball explodes in the air as hundreds of needles spring out piercing all the guards, throwing them on the floor.

Once they make sure no more are coming their way, both men stand up. Keith looks at Lance, surprised, "How…"

"Darrell!" Lance states with a wink. "Kid's created some incredible new gadgets!"

"I see," Keith smiles. "Now, if he could just fix these helmets." He finishes as he coughs one last time. "Come on, let's go!"

--------

King Abiser walks slowly toward the bridge of Lotor's ship, where he is quickly greeted by the Doom Prince with a smile that begins from one end of his face and extends to the other end...a self satisfied smile that crumbles any last hopes the King might have had.

"Where's my daughter?" Abiser bawls out his words with anger and fear at the same time.

"Where is my crystal?" Lotor asks calmly.

The king reaches to a side pocket of his suit and retrieves a royal blue rectangular case and hands it to Lotor with regret in his eyes.

Lotor yanks the case from the King's hand and slowly opens it to see a blue color cylinder shaped crystal, which upon taking it out of the case, glows brightly in his hand. A cynical laugh escapes Lotor as Abiser closes his eyes, dreading what he has just done. _'The beginning of the end.'_ he thinks darkly as he hears the evil laughter in his ears.

-----

Lance and Keith stop abruptly when they see two Drule guards leading the princess out of the room she was kept in. Noticing her ripped clothing, her short hair tousled wildly about her head and her awkward walk, both men cringe at the thought that entered their minds at the same time. _'Bastard!' _Lance closes his eyes for a moment as anger and pain resonate through him.

"She's just a girl!" Keith whispers in disgust. "Son of a bitch!"

"We have to follow them," Lance answers, pushing his emotions back and concentrating on the mission.

"Right." Keith nods, following his friend's wise decision.

______________

She is beautiful, Darrell thinks as he looks at her, long ebony hair falls down her back, her skin, white as clouds from a sunny day and eerily blue eyes, the color of the ocean. Her delicate arms opened wide, ready to embrace him as she calls for him. Yes, she is beautiful, from the waist up…below the waistline, however, her wings spread widely as she flies toward him. She smiles; her fangs opening and releasing rays that hit Green lion with a blast that pushes him back with a striking force.

"Fall back, fall back!" Allura yells. "Regroup, regroup!"

"What the hell is that?" Hunk asks in disgust. "How can something be so beautiful and so disgusting at the same time?"

"We're looking at Lotor's perverse sense of humor." Allura answers him with the same tone of disgust in her voice. "Darrell, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm ok, just a nasty bump in the head. I'll feel it later when this is over."

Allura looks at the beast with wonder. So far they've fought two beasts, this was their third; each time they were uglier, more disturbing. They had more power and were harder to kill. This one doesn't look any different, except for one thing. She looks like she is thinking, analyzing, and staring at Allura for a challenge. Allura will not back down but she needs to test her, taunt her, to see how powerful this beast really is. "Cover me guys, I'm going in."

"Princess, absolutely not!" Hunk interjects. "We need to contact Keith."

"Not yet Hunk. I'm sure they are busy. We need to buy them more time and we need to see what we're up against so when they join us, Voltron will know exactly what to do. Darrell,"

"I'm listening."

"I'm going to use the proton missiles for a hit. I need you to scan her. See what her weakness is and where it lies."

"Princess…"

"This is an order. Neither Keith nor Lance is in command right now. I am!"

"Yes, Princess!" Darrell answers, still unsure.

"Fine, but I'll be right behind for backup" Hunk states forcefully, "I'm not going to get in Keith's bad graces if he finds out I did nothing."

"Fine." Allura answers, rolling her eyes, "Let's go."

Blue lion flies closer to the beautiful beast with Yellow following close behind. Upon closer inspection, she sees that her torso is completely covered with gold metallic plating and the crest of the Doom. "Great, now he makes sure his trademark is there." She says out loud to no one in particular. "Alright, let's see what you got...proton missiles!" she yells as her lion blasts the charged missiles toward the beast's shoulder. The missiles hit the beastly beauty right on target, making two huge holes. In pain, the beast enlarges her wings and covers herself within them.

Allura smiles triumphantly, but it is short lived. Within seconds, she sees a glowing light emerge from underneath the wings and a moment later, the large wings open to send out a large fireball that flies her way. Her blue eyes turn red as the light from fireball charges her way, "Pull up! Hunk, pull up!" She yells at the Yellow lion pilot as she pulls Blue lion out of the way.

"Holy shit!" Hunk yells as he watches Allura moves out of the way just in time to see the fireball head his way.


	4. The First Crystal

A very special thank you to my wonderful editors! Mertz, CMS, Harmony and Xia! Muchas gracias muchachas, las quiero!

Now, on with the show!

Mesmerized as the crystal shines in his hand, Lotor ignores the people around him. His yellow eyes shine with complete pride, a soft laugh escapes him. _'My time has arrived'_ he thinks to himself as he holds his valuable weapon. A moment later, Abiser's voice calls him back.

"I've kept my end of the bargain Lotor; bring Sinah to me right now!" Abiser growls at the Prince of Doom.

"Very well." Lotor answers absently just as the guards bring in the poor girl onto the bridge.

When Abiser sees his little girl's appearance, his heart sinks, "Oh God!" he shouts aloud, "Sinah!"

"Daddy!" The girl bawls in tears as she attempts to run to her father.

Noticing that she barely makes it to him, Abiser runs to aid her. He takes the young woman into his arms and holds her tightly. He turns to Lotor, who has his attention still fixed on the crystal, "How could you? How could you, you conniving bastard! She's just seventeen; she's still just a child!"

Slowly, Lotor puts the crystal back in the case, turns to his guards and looks at them. The guards nod and violently pull the young girl from her father's grasp. Sinah fights the guards as she yells and screams more at the torture bestowed on her. Abiser screams as well, fighting the guards, trying to take back his daughter; his efforts wasted as once again, his daughter ripped away from him.

"She seemed all woman to me." answers Lotor coldly once Abiser settles. "Besides, you should be happy. She's now an experienced young lady…having had her first experience with the greatest being this part of the galaxy has ever known…Abiser you should be elated with pride!"

'_I think I'm going to gag!'_ Lance thinks to himself as he and Keith enter the bridge cautiously through a side entrance in time to hear Lotor's comment. Both men grip their blasters as they walk toward Lotor; the Prince's back facing them. The guards, too busy trying to control a frantic Sinah, do not notice the two men who slowly creep their way onto the bridge.

"You're an egotistical son of a bitch!" Abiser shouts before he suddenly sees the two men walking toward Lotor.

Lotor notices the sudden shift of sight the King has. An awareness of something in the room enlightens him. _Someone's here!_ Without any further thought, he opens the case carrying the crystal and holds it in his hand. Upon seeing Lotor grab the crystal, Keith holds out his hand for Lance to stop.

"Abiser, let me ask you something," Lotor's voice diminishes into an eerie calmness. "Did you follow my directions and told no one of our little meeting?"

"I've told no one." Abiser stammers.

"Really?" Lotor asks again as he walks over to Abiser with the crystal within his grasp. "Then how come we have unwanted company!" Lotor turns, grabbing Abiser by his arm and pointing the crystal on the King's heart. Turning around, Lotor looks at both Keith and Lance with a malicious smile, "Welcome gentlemen, I've been expecting you."

-----------

Hunk barely pulls Yellow lion away from the fireball when it misses them by a couple of millimeters and continues its trajectory into the vast darkness.

"Guess that didn't work!" He loudly states to Allura. "So what do you plan on doing next Princess?"

"Surround the bitch!" she hollers as she takes a frontal position. Darrell takes the back while Hunk flies above it. "Try to hit her at the same time." She orders then adds, "At my signal fire your eye beams; see if we can burn her that way."

"You think that will work?" Darrell questions doubtfully.

"No, but we need to buy Keith and Lance some time and we have to keep _beauty_ here entertained as well." She answers with a scathing tone.

Seeing herself surrounded, the robeast once again hides within her wings and begins to rotate around violently. As it spins, Darrell notices something different about her; _damn it! She's getting bigger!_ About to tell the others, he suddenly feels the robeast's wings hit Green lion with such force, it blast him away from the other two lion and even Planet Doom.

-------

A baleful beam of glee swims through Lotor's smile as he holds King Abiser by the arm with the crystal pointing to the King's heart thus preventing Keith and Lance from making any moves.

"So Captain, what brings you here? A rescue mission perhaps?" The prince asks, gloating at having the upper hand.

Keith maintains his silence, trying to analyze the room around him without being detected and hoping that Lance will know what to do when he finally strikes.

"Something like that." Keith smiles back pleasingly.

"Lieutenant McClain, so glad to see you again," Lotor turns to Lance, "I'm sorry to see you decided to stay at your current position."

"I'm glad I wised up," Lance sardonically replies. "I would have hated to see what could have happened if I joined you."

"Pity," Lotor answers. "You would have excelled instead of working for your dying Captain here. Captain, you're looking a bit more ill than last time we spoke." he finishes, staring back at the captain.

Lance looks at Keith confused, but is only greeted by a look that tells him to get ready.

"Release the King, Lotor." Keith simply states. "I want the King and the Princess."

"Is that all?"

"That's all."

Lotor gives a loud snort before replying, "Do you think of me as a simpleton! You've never attacked before and Abiser here swore he never contacted you. So this leads me to believe that you are here for something other than these two idiots." He looks down at the shining stone in his hand and his gaze changes, his lips curling into a vicious sneer, "You want my crystal Captain, don't you?"

"You better believe it!" Lance replies back.

"And what makes you think I'll give it to you?"

Noticing that Lotor keeps his eye contact on Lance, Keith seizes the opportunity. He raises his blaster so quick, that no one even notices and blasts Lotor in the shoulder. Lotor growls in pain as he falls to the floor, but doesn't let go of the crystal. Lance quickly uses his blaster, hitting the two guards that hold Sinah. Both Drules fall to the floor as Sinah stands still in shock. Abiser runs away from Lotor and heads toward his daughter.

When he reaches her, he retrieves his comm. unit from his belt and connects to his ship, "Commence attack! Commence attack!"

Still holding his blaster, Keith runs toward Lotor and attempts to pry the crystal from his hand when suddenly a blue ray that emerges from the crystal blasts him to the air.

"Keith!" Lance screams as he watches his friend blown into the air and landing on the other side of the bridge.

Lotor quickly rises and aims the crystal at Lance, hitting him in the gut and slamming him to a wall across the room as well.

Looking at his view screen, Lotor sees King Abiser's battleships leave his cruiser to help the three lions battle the robeast and attack the other ships that have begun to emerge from Doom. Livid, Lotor notes both pilots still on the floor in pain and then turns to see Abiser and his daughter begin to exit the bridge. He aims his crystal at the king. The crystal emits a blue laser that pulls Abiser back to the bridge as Sinah is hurled to the side.

"Come back here you piece of garbage. You and I still have unfinished business!" Lotor snarls. "You swore you didn't ask for help…you lied Abiser. You brought these lions here didn't you?"

"No, I swear I didn't!" Abiser screams as the beam drags him back toward the prince of Doom. "You have what you want. Lets us go!"

Keith and Lance force themselves to stand back up, still in pain from the massive blow they have both received.

"Oh, I'll let you go, Abiser…" Lotor replies as he lifts Abiser up in the air with the beam. "To your death!" Lotor yells as he squeezes the crystal in his hand even harder. The crystal turns dark blue in color, sending a powerful charge that seeps through Abiser's body to the point that his screams are full of excruciating pain.

Sinah screams and attempts to run to stop Lotor, but Lance manages to catch her, throwing her to the floor. Keith runs toward Lotor, tackling the Prince and preventing the beam from continuing to do more harm. Abiser falls roughly to the floor.

"Let me go to him! Let me go!" Sinah screams while trying to get away from Lance. But he stops her until Keith has control of Lotor.

While on the floor, Lotor grips the crystal again strongly. Keith punches him in the face, hard then he hits him again, harder. Again and again, until Lotor lets go of the crystal and it slides away from his hand.

Quickly, Keith stands up and moves away from a dazed Lotor. Grabbing the crystal from the floor, Keith is shocked as soon as he picks it up. Pain sears through his body as he immediately lets go of it and falls to the floor, shaking.

Once on the floor, he sees a set of black boots walk toward him and kick him in the gut. Keith growls in pain. "The great thing about the crystals," Lotor laughs. "if you're infected, you can't touch them!" He then retrieves the crystal and begins to walk away.

Raylek runs into the room. Lance picks up the blaster and aims it at him but misses as the man half cyborg moves out of range. Raylek runs to Lotor just as Doom prince raises the hand that holds the crystal. A large blue sphere surrounds the two and they both disappear from the bridge.

Lance runs over to Keith as Sinah dashes to her father. He helps his friend stand up, "You alright?"

Still a bit shaken, Keith only manages a murmur, "I'm fine, but he took the crystal."

Both men turn to see an inconsolable Princess as she holds her father in her arms. "Daddy, please…Daddy, answer me!" she exclaims as tears ran down her face.

The King slowly opens his eyes and looks at his daughter, "Sinah…you must….help…Altea…it is up…to…you now."

"Daddy…"

"Make me proud…my beloved…daughter and avenge my death." he orders as he takes his last breath.

"Daddy! No! Daddy, wake up!!" Sinah screams as she holds her father tightly.

"Go, I'll be alright," Keith tells Lance as he looks around the bridge for clues.

Lance walks over to Sinah and holds her, comforting her the best he can as the girl gently lets go of her father, turns and holds on to him not wanting to let go of the Red Lion pilot.

As Keith looks around, he sees a light blinking from one of the control panels. Upon closer inspection, his eyes broaden. "Damn it! He set the ship to self destruct! We need to leave, now!"

Hearing these words, Lance pulls Sinah away from her father, "No!" she yells, "I won't leave him, I won't leave him!"

"You must! You have no choice, Princess. Your father has handed Altea to you now. You won't honor him or his memory by dying here!"

At his words, she looks up at him and nods in understanding. "Let's go," she whimpers softly.

Keith grabs his comm. unit "Princess, Princess, do you read?"

"I'm here," Allura's voice is heard through the comm. "This robeast is kicking our collective asses, Keith."

"We're on our way. Get yourselves away from Lotor's ship immediately, this baby's going to blow at any moment."

"I read. Just get out fast!" She fires back at him.

"On our way," Keith states as he terminates the conversation. "Let's get out of here!" he tells Lance and they head out of the bridge.

--------

"Ion Knife!" Darrell yells out as he tries to cut apart the robeast's wing. Again he finds that he can not even come close to her before she fires back with her own weaponry, tossing him away from her once again.

"Damn it!" he yells his frustration. "We can't beat this thing with just three lions!"

"Have you found a weak spot?" Hunk asks.

"Negative. System is still running a scan on her."

Allura hits a couple of Doom fighters that come her way as she begins communication with Hunk and Darrell. "Keith and Lance are on their way out." she starts as she dodges another ship. "Our orders are to move away from Lotor's ship immediately. It's going to blow at any moment."

"Did they get the crystal?"

"I don't know." she answers as Allura sees the beast switch her attention to Abiser's large cruiser. "Guys, the robeast is going after Abiser's ship. We need to get her away from them!"

"I'm on it!" Hunk exclaims as he flies closer to the robeast.

Darrell watches as Abiser's battleships destroy the last of the Drule ships. He breathes a deep sigh of relief when he sees both Black and Red Lion fly out Lotor's ship.

"Hey, they're out!" He yells with glee. "Keith, we need to form Voltron now!"

"I'm on it!" Keith replies, full of adrenaline, "Commence sequence, now!"

Within seconds the lions lock to form the activation sequence and fly up. Interlocks are activated, as the lions transform into Voltron.

Upon seeing Voltron, the beastly beauty moves away from the King's ship and charges immediately at him. Keith moves Voltron out of the way when she tries to grab him. Turning, he tries a hit from behind, "Ion Darts!"

The missiles cut through the wings and she shrieks loudly seeing the massive holes on both wings. She once again seals herself, but that only lasts a moment before she comes back. Her blue eyes turn black and she begins shooting darts that embed themselves in Voltron's body. The darts sends shocks of electricity through Voltron preventing it from moving.

"Darrell!" Keith screams through the pain. "Can you get these things off of us?"

"Working on it!" Darrell replies. "Hang on tight; I'm activating our Thermal charge. I'm melting these darts." As soon as the thermal charges ignite, the darts melt, dripping all over Voltron like black oil.

Noticing that Lotor's ship is still intact, Keith voices out, "I have an idea," as he sees the beast about to charge at them. He quickly flies toward the intact ship.

"Keith, what the hell are you doing?" Lance asks.

"Just follow my lead," Keith charges.

Voltron picks up the ship and swings it around, waiting for the right moment to strike. Beauty charges at them with fury. Her arms open wide, but instead of embracing Voltron, she is hit with full force by Lotor's cruiser. The cruiser explodes in her face and throws her back to Doom.

Sinah gasps as she sees the ship explode, _'Father!'_ she calls out to him in her mind. Aware now that she must fulfill her father's last wishes her thoughts continue haunting her, _'Your reign has dissipated in space and now mine begins. Gods help me.'_ She is scared. _'How will I face my people? How can I exude so much power, when feel so helpless at this moment? When I feel so damn dirty?'_

Lance senses her thoughts; immediately he tells her something that causes her insides to stir, "Your father may be gone, but his spirit lives within you. Use it. It is his spirit that will help you reign."

_'And kill Lotor!'_ she thinks to herself silently as she nods to Lance. Moments later, Red lion takes her back to the ship.


	5. Regrets, Questions and New Challenges

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CMS…the things you think about as you edit for me…_hay Dios mio_!!!!

FYI: POA is Plan of Action

Ok…short but sweet!!!!

5. Regrets, Questions and New Challenges

The flight back to Arus, one of eerie silence, forces the Voltron members into contemplation. Darrell tries to find the weak point of the beauty robeast, very concerned that it took too long for systems to run the check and find a way to destroy the damn thing. He continues searching for any flaws in his system.

In his lion, Hunk disappears after Keith's briefing deciding to spend the flight back speaking with Selena.

Lance speaks from time to time, but still feels a bit shaken. He dropped Sinah off on her ship, but not without experiencing the heartache she and her mother felt once Sinah described to her mother the King's demise. _Just a young _girl as he had stated earlier, a child_._ _Lotor is one very sick bastard!_ He continues thinking.

In Black lion, Keith's quiet demeanor indicates to others the feelings and thoughts running amok in his head. He did not acquire the crystal; this sole fact worries him more as the flight home progresses. _Lotor now possesses one very powerful weapon._ He told Allura, Darrell and Hunk about it when he recounted what had happened on the ship.

_It seems that even though we saved the princess, we still lost. I couldn't save the king and did not take possession of the crystal. Chances are we didn't destroy the robeast either._ His heart pounds as growing feelings of guilt and failure fill his chest. He shakes his head in disappointment at himself as those feelings continue their journey from his chest to his mind.

Looking at Keith from her view screen, Allura sighs. She knows the mood he will have tonight and it includes mostly silence. _Not that I want to speak to him anyway_. Still furious for the lack of attention to his health lately, she intends to let him know how bothered she is about it. _Still_, Allura thinks, _I'm so worried about him._

----------

Keith sees the blinking line turn red on his console_. A private call..., now?_ The caller, none other than his Lieutenant, Lance. Deeply sighing, he presses the button to connect to him.

"Hey," he hears the voice from the other line.

"Lieutenant," Keith answers a bit too forcefully for his taste, but he cannot help it. He failed today.

"Stop torturing yourself. You know the main objective was to save the Princess and we did." Lance answers, "We'll take the crystal back from Lotor Keith."

"I know Lance." He replies back, "It's just that, Lotor grows stronger by the day and he already has the upper hand on so many levels."

"Don't be so pessimistic, you moron. It doesn't suit you. Leave that to Coran." Lance fires back with a tone of sarcasm that makes Keith crack a smile.

"Fine!" he nods, "When we get back, we'll begin a POA for retrieval."

"There you go, that's better. Smiling from time to time is good for you Captain. Keeps the wrinkles away…so I've heard." Lance grins, but gradually the smile fades, "Hey Keith, I have a question."

"What?"

"What did Lotor mean when he stated I am working for a dying Captain?"

He tries not to let Lance register the panic he immediately feels when asked the question. _Shit! How am I going to explain this one?_

"Lance, you know Lotor will find a way to confuse the hell out of us. The man has at least half a dozen screws lose; don't pay attention to the garbage he spits out."

Looking at Lance's facial expression, Keith knows that he has not convinced him at all, but just when his friend is about to counter the reply, he receives another signal.

"Lance, let's talk about this later, I'm receiving a call from Queen Merla." He terminates the communication abruptly, leaving no chance for him to utter another word. Immediately, Keith codes Merla in. "Your Majesty," he tells her, his tone changing back to serious.

"Captain," she remarks with a bright smile. "I hope your mission went according to plan."

"Yes…and no."

He notices her face souring a bit, but he can also tell she tries to maintain her cool as she asks, "What happened? You didn't obtain the crystal?

"No. Lotor managed to take it with him."

Merla grows silent after his revelation and he thinks for a moment the real Merla will emerge; the one that just like any other Drule he has ever meet, _has no regard for life; the one that only cares about power or possessions; the true Drule personality._ But to his surprise, he finds her asking him something else, "How is Princess Sinah, did you save her?"

Stunned, Keith could only muster a "Yes…We saved her, but not the King."

"I'm sorry to hear that." she replies to him sympathetically. "But you saved her, that's what's important." Merla finishes.

He smiles at her, _Maybe she is the real thing_, he thinks. "I guess it is Majesty."

When he smiled at her, Merla thought her insides would melt. _What is wrong with me!_ She asks herself, not understanding why this man makes her feel the way she feels every time he is present in front of her. She tries to quickly compose herself before she continues.

"Captain, I'm afraid you won't see me by the time you arrive to Arus."

"You're leaving?"

The Drule queen sighs dramatically, "I'm afraid so, I have to meet with some of the members from the Resistance to keep them up to date on our plans. But I'll continue to contact you as soon as we hear anything new."

Keith manages to give her a soft smile, "Thank you my Queen. Have a safe flight back home."

"You take care of yourself Captain. Please keep me posted about your retrieval plans as soon as you can." Merla smiles as she terminates communication.

As the conversation ends, the Blue lion pilot stares at her voice link. Lance told her that the Queen was speaking to Keith and she tapped in to listen. _Yes, a bit unorthodox,_ she tells herself, but _something about that woman is untrustworthy, aside from the obvious feelings she has for Keith. Damn it, I'm going to find out!' _she tells herself.

***********

Darrell is beyond frustrated as he continues to go through the data. _There has to be something, a weakness within the beastly beauty somewhere_, he is just finding it hard to locate the weak spot.

"Darrell, give it up man!" Hunk yells. "She's millions of miles away and in Haggar's repair shop by now."

"That's not the point Hunk, Voltron couldn't find any weak point and I ran the scan three times! We've always found a weak spot on any Robeast that Lotor has thrown at us. If he and Haggar found a full proof formula…"

"Stop worrying Darrell. I'm sure when we're back home and we review the video, we'll figure out what happened." Hunk tries to calm him down.

"What the hell is a video going to tell us that a scan won't Hunk?" Darrell asks him with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Nothing Einstein! But it will hopefully help you to see things clearer!" Hunk snaps back.

Still running the scan, Darrell ignores Hunk. His frustration increasing as once again the computers spits back, "No target points found". He throws his head back against the head rest trying to overcome the increasing frustration building within him when he suddenly sees a gigantic space cloud ahead.

The large cloud, rich with hues of purples, pinks and reds, booms with the electricity charging within it. _This one's powerful_, he thinks to himself. Seeing that there is no choice but to pass through it, he contacts Keith immediately.

"Keith, we have a space cloud ahead."

"Is it active?"

He runs a scan quickly, "Yeah, big time." _Great! Now the fucking thing works!_

"Ok, disengage; it will be better if each lion passes through it on its own."

"Why?" Allura asks curiously.

"Voltron has too much power Princess, it will attract too much electricity and that might hurt our systems." Darrell replies.

"If we fly through it one by one, we'll attract less electricity." Keith finishes off, "I'll go first, then…"

Darrell interrupts him, "No Chief, let me go first. I can monitor the activity and let you know what to expect."

"Alright, but don't get too cocky in there. It looks strong enough from the outside as it is." Keith replies a little uneasy, hating to put his crew in harm's way before he knows the dangers first hand.

"Don't worry, I'll behave," Darrell jokes back with a smile on his face.

The Green lion carefully flies toward the cloud, easing its way slowly but steady. Upon entering, Darrell sees the electric charges hitting each other with such force, as if fighting each other in a power struggle. "It's really busy in here guys," he transmits back.

He runs another scan as he hears Keith's voice ask him, "Can you find a path we can follow inside?"

"Already looking Chief," he answers when suddenly he feels a charge hit the lion with such force; it shakes the lion and him inside. Darrell screams in pain as the rest hear it over the link.

"Darrell!" Hunk yells.

"Darrell!" Keith yells back, "Answer me!"

Still hearing his screams of pain, Keith shouts, "Darrell!" _'Shit!'_ he thinks to himself. "Hold on, Hold on!" Keith yells as he flies into the cloud. "No one follows unless I say so!" He yells to the rest of the team as he goes in.

-----

Keith flies within the gaseous cloud to find Darrell. Within minutes he finds him caught between two lighting surges.

"Darrell, Darrell…"

Darrell barely hears Keith's words as he feels himself slipping in and out of consciousness. "Chief," he answers softly.

"Listen to me carefully. You need to pull the lion out slowly to avoid further shock."

"I…I'll try," Darrell answers a bit groggily.

"Darrell, you have to concentrate, stay awake!"

Darrell tries to shake away the haziness in his head and concentrates on taking the Green lion out of the surges. Slowly, he pulls the steering mechanisms up. Green lion takes off slowly, easing its way out of the lightning.

"Perfect Shorty…easy…does it…" Keith whispers mostly to himself, as he watches Green lion pull out. Darrell is just inches away from escaping the surges when Keith notices another surge forming above Green. Just as he is about to call on him to pull back, the surge bolts Green hard, sending him flying into a dark hole within the cloud.

"Darrell! Darrell!" Keith yells.


	6. A New Day

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6. A New Day

Darrell wakes up in MedTech with a big headache. He tries to open the lids of his eyes, but finds it almost unbearable to do so. After some time however, he finally opens them and is greeted by a beautiful blond, blue eyed angel who smiles at him with a smile of a Goddess.

"I think he's finally up," Allura whispers softly. Then, he begins to see the faces of three others who also smile gratefully. "How are you feeling, Darrell?" She asks.

Groggily he answers, "I think I'm ok. What happened?"

"You got clobbered by the gas cloud's lightning." Another voice answers. _Lance?_

Suddenly, he hears another familiar voice, "Well, Darrell, glad you woke up." Dr. Gorma boasts as he points a light into Darrell's eyes to check his pupils. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a bad headache." Darrell simply replies. "Have I've been out long?"

"Just a couple of hours." Hunk answers him.

"Wow." Darrell puts his hands up to his forehead, surprised by the discovery. Still a bit groggy, he continues his questioning. "How did we make it back?"

Gorma finishes his examination and turns to the group. "I really don't see anything wrong with Darrell. Young man," he turns back to him. "You were very lucky. It could have been a lot worse."

"Does he have to stay at MedTech tonight Doctor?" Allura asks.

"No, he can go whenever he likes. I really don't see a reason to keep him here."

"Great!" Darrell exclaims already rising from bed. "I'm sure Green has a lot of repairs."

"Green and Yellow," Hunk replies.

"Why Yellow?" Darrell asks surprised. He is then surprised by another voice that makes its presence known and answers the question.

"Because, Hunk went in and helped me save you." Keith answers with a grateful smile. "I wasn't happy at first that he defied orders..." he turns to Hunk who rolls his eyes, "But, he did save both of our asses, so I guess I should forgive him."

Hunk shakes his head, "I had to save you buddy. It'd be really boring to fix those lions all by myself."

"Thanks Hunk," is Darrell's reply, a grateful tone embedded within it.

"Well, we are glad you're all right," Keith answers. "I guess we can go back to business then…"

"Keith! The kid just woke up." Lance stammers.

Darrell cannot not help to laugh. Yes, they are all ok, and it is times like these that he appreciates his family even more. "I'm ok, Lance. Throw it at me Chief!" He tells him excitedly.

"Since two of the lions are down, we'll have hand to hand combat practice tomorrow morning instead, but I'll let you all rest so we'll have it after breakfast."

"Alright! We sleep in. Thanks, Darrell, you should have more of these little incidents more often so the Cap goes easier on us." Lance smirks with a wink.

"Very funny Lance!" Allura replies rolling her eyes. Turning to Darrell she smiles, "I'm glad you're ok."

Keith begins to walk toward the door, "Alright, everyone. I think we should all rest and have Darrell get some rest as well. I'll see you all in the morning." He finishes as he walks out the room.

Little by little, the guests begin to leave the room. Soon, only one remains, Hunk, who decides to walk his friend to his room. As they walk toward their quarters, Darrell can not help to look at man next to him. He didn't see his blood brother Chip often, but somehow, he felt closer to Hunk than his brother. When things like this happened, the bond grew closer.

"So you still plan on taking out Selena tomorrow afternoon?" Darrell asks.

"Unfortunately, no. Keith wants those lions up and running before the end of tomorrow. I told Selena I would have to take a rain check."

"Sorry."

Hunk smiles and pats his friend's back. "It's ok. She understood. That's what I love about her, she's so easy going. She's great." He answers him with a smile as he thinks of her.

'_Oh boy, he's smitten!'_ Darrell is glad that Hunk apparently found someone.

They reach Darrell's quarters, but before Darrell walks in he turns to his friend, "Thanks again, Hunk."

"Don't mention it again, what are big brothers for?"

----------

Darrell wakes up the next morning hearing the ringing of his video phone. Groggily, he finds his glasses on his night stand, puts it on and presses the button to connect.

"Oh Darrell, I'm so happy you're ok!" He hears, listening to the sweet sound of her voice showing happiness, but also concern, "I spoke to Hunk yesterday and he told me you had finally woken up."

He smiles at her. The young girl smiles back, her hazel eyes glowing as she sees him, "I'm fine Sarah, don't worry about me, I'm all right."

"How could I not worry?" She puffs, "I called yesterday and they told me you were in battle and when I called again, no one told me what was going on, and then I was told you were brought in to MedTech. How could I not worry?"

"Sarah, I'm fine, really, still alive, aren't I?" He jokes with her, "Did your mom finally let you come here for a couple of days or are you going to go see your dad's family?"

"That's what I called to tell you, I won't make it this week. I have to see some of Daddy's family; we leave today. I've never really met them, but since his passing, they now want to meet Mom and I. I couldn't say no." she replies regretfully. Since Keith's friend's memorial at Ephas, Darrell and Sarah spoke with each other almost everyday. This would have been her first visit to the castle.

Sighing disappointedly, Darrell shrugs his shoulders, "Well, it's not really that bad, I'm going to be very busy rebuilding Green and Yellow lions anyways."

"I promise I'll make it there next week. I'm on break from school for a month, so there's still plenty of time for me to visit…is that ok?"

"Of course it is!" he answers her in disbelief.

Sarah smiles, "Ok, Darrell. I'll call you tomorrow, we can talk more then. I have to continue packing my suitcase, my transport leaves in an hour."

"Sure, Sarah, be safe."

"You sure you're all right?" she asks again.

"Yes. I'm fine. Have a good flight." He replies grinning back at her.

Nodding, Sarah tells him before she breaks communication, "You be safe too Darrell. I…I'll miss you."

Darrell blushes at her last statement. "I'll miss you too, Sarah." He whispers to himself out loud.

************

Walking toward the halls of the castle and feeling very lucky this morning, Darrell's thoughts drift to Sarah. Unfortunately, the persistent headache that nagged him all of last night continues plaguing him this morning.

As he walks toward the dining hall, he hears whistling. Looking up he sees the culprit.

Lance walks toward him, "You won't believe this, but the Captain is giving us a break today!" he tells him all excited.

"What, no combat practice?" Darrell inquires suspiciously.

With a mischievous smile, Lance answers, "Yep. O'Fearless told me he isn't feeling too well this morning and decided to cancel practice altogether."

Darrell stares at Lance stunned. Lance looks back at him with a confused look, "What?"

"Since when have you known Keith to cancel practice because _he_ feels bad?"

Wondering for a bit, Lance answers, "Well, never, come to think of it… But you know, there's a first time for everything. I say enjoy it while it lasts!"

"Lance, maybe Dr. Gorma should check him out?"

Lance rolls his eyes and sighs, "I already told him. You know him; he rejected the advice. Don't worry; he'll go when he's ready. Well, if you will excuse me, I'm going back to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. Things like this don't happen everyday!" he winks before turning and continuing his path toward his quarters.

Darrell laughs, "Leave it to him not to question anything!" As he continues his walk he sees another familiar face coming to him.

"Good morning!" States the cheery voice.

"Hey, Selena. Good morning."

The red haired, perky gal smiles at Darrell, "I'm glad you are feeling better."

"Thanks, I still have this nagging headache, but other than that I feel great. By the way, I'm sorry about Hunk. I know that…"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" she replies cutting him off and waving the apology off with her hand. "Hey, what can I say, it comes with the territory."

Darrell laughs, "Yeah, I guess so."

"It's ok Darrell." She answers, smiling. "Listen, I have to go. I have a couple of patients I need to check on before Dr. Gorma does his rounds. I'll talk to you later."

"Sure, bye."

After she walks away, Darrell heads to the dining room, expecting everyone else, with the exception of Lance. _Maybe I'll find out what's going on with Keith _he thinks to himself as he enters, but when he does, the only one there is Hunk having breakfast.

"Good morning Shorty!" he greets with a smile.

"Hey, where's everyone else?"

Taking the last bite of his toast, he answers still chewing, "Well, Keith's not feeling well, Princess is with Romelle, Coran is at control, and Lance, well, you know. Why don't you have a quick breakfast, I took a look at Green and Yellow this morning again and the work for today is going to be murder!"

Sighing, Darrell walks up to the table to grab some fruit and pastries, "Great! Can't wait to start!"

---------

The repair bay is busy. Both Yellow and Green lions stand tall as the repair team works over them to get them fixed. For a moment, Darrell thinks that the team looks like ants crawling all over the lions. Green, despite being the most damaged, is repaired first and is just being cleaned up aesthetically.

Yellow, for some odd reason, is taking the longest. Darrell and Hunk work for hours on the thrusters, which seemed to be working fine, but Darrell feels something is off by the sound they make when they are turned on.

"They still don't sound right." He shakes his head as he throws a tool on the floor in frustration. "I'm not sure what it is, but they just sound wrong."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Both men stand in silence, concentrating on finding an answer when suddenly, Darrell notices one of the wires in Yellow protruding slightly from the thruster panel. The wire, so well hidden, is invisible to most, but Darrell's knack to find even the smallest of details leads him to it.

"Hey, look." Darrell notes, walking up to Yellow. "This wire, it's completely burnt out. That's the problem."

"How on Earth did you see that?" Hunk asks. "You must have bionic eyes, Darrell."

"Guess so," Darrell laughs. "I take it this is our culprit. Come on, we'll have to take the whole thing apart to reach it."

Just as they are about to start the process of fixing Yellow, the alarms blast. "Great!" Hunk immediately shouts, "Guess Lotor's pissed. Close up the panel, we better get ready."

"Hunk, you can't fly Yellow like this," Darrell immediately warns.

"I'll let Keith know, but should we need Voltron, I need to be up. Come on, hurry up!" He answers as they close the panel.

-----------

Everyone is up in the air and ready for battle before Darrell blinks, at least, that is what it feels like to Darrell. Yellow follows closely behind him. As they head closer to the outskirts of the castle, Darrell sees clearly the menace in front of him, _The Beastly Beauty_ he frets to himself as he comes closer.

When he studies her more, he realizes something. Beauty is a bit different. Her eyes are now Lilac in color, her features slightly rougher, her wings larger and thicker. She looks stronger, angrier.

"Guess Lotor gave her an upgrade." Darrell states while flying over her.

"I'm not wasting my time." Keith tells the team, "Get ready to form Voltron."

The team lines the lions in V formation. As they head up to the stratosphere to commence formation, beauty charges toward them, breaking the formation and grabbing Yellow lion by its torso. She lifts Yellow above her head and throws it with all her strength toward the ground.

"Hunk!" Darrell yells, "Answer me!"

"I'm ok," Hunk groggily replies.

"Hunk, lift up, she's going after you again!" Lance shouts back, getting closer to the beast and firing missiles at her back, to no avail.

The missiles do not derail her from her target; she goes straight for Yellow, not giving a chance for the pilot to lift off. She scoops him up, like an eagle catching its prey and takes off.

"Guys!" Keith shouts, "Bob up position! Take the mountains ahead. I'm going to lead her toward them and then we'll attack from the front and sides. Lance. "

"Yeah!"

"As soon as I pass attack, make sure you don't hit Hunk."

All of them follow instructions without a question, immediately they lower their altitudes, hiding themselves as close to the mountain terrain as possible.

"Hunk, answer me," Keith turns his attention to the Yellow pilot.

"I can't free myself!" he yells back.

"Hold on, get out as fast as you can once Lance hits her."

"Got it!" Hunk answers absently.

Keith raises Black lion, meeting face to face with the beast and fires proton missiles at her head. Beauty growls in pain, but doesn't let go of Yellow lion. Instead, she goes after Black as well. Keith turns and flies away, hoping Beauty will chase him, "Come on gorgeous, follow me." He whispers to himself as he sees her doing exactly what he plans.

Soon both Beauty and Black reach the mountain. Black accelerates, passing the mountain's peek when he yells, "Now!"

All three lions pull up firing at the same time, Lance aims two proton missiles at her eyes, that hit her head on. Allura hits one side of the head and Darrell the other. Upon this, Beauty releases her grip on Yellow lion and Hunk accelerates with the thrusters. It is then that Darrell yells out, "Hunk, don't!"

But it is too late, instantly Yellow lion explodes in the air. The other four lions stand in shock. Seeing the beast roar brings Keith back to his senses. He looks at her with fire in his eyes, "Lion torches!" he growls hitting the beast in the face. It doesn't take long, for Lance to follow. The beast turns, and flies up in the air leaving Arus in haste.

Keith immediately flies toward the debris that has already hit the ground. He scans the wreckage, looking for a miracle that he inwardly knows is not going to happen.

"Keith?" Allura calls out, already crying.

He swallows hard, trying to get the words out of his mouth, but he can't.

"Keith, anything?" Lance asks as well.

After a long silence, "Nothing…" He finally answers. "I see nothing."

--------

When the four arrive at the control room, they are greeted by both Nanny and Coran. Both are shedding tears when Darrell looks at them. Allura immediately runs to Nanny, crying desperately and Coran walks to the other three.

"I'm so sorry, he was a great man."

Darrell can't stop the crying. He feels the tears rolling down his face. He tries to stop them, but he's unable to control himself.

Lance and Keith are both too shocked to even shed tears; they both look lost in their own thoughts. Keith looks at the vidscreen in front and immediately walks toward it.

"What are you doing?" Lance asks mechanically.

"I need to see the video…I need to see what went wrong!" he answers as he punches in the codes.

"It was the thrusters," Darrell finally lets out.

Keith turns around, "What?"

"The thrusters. There was some lose wiring; we were starting to fix them when the alarms went off. He was supposed to have told you that he couldn't use them."

Keith looks at Darrell, paling, as the young officer gives him the explanation, "I…I told him to get out as fast as he could."

Lance looks shocked, "Did you know?"

Keith shook his head, "No, he never said anything. It just happened so fast."

Darrell interjects, "Keith, if he didn't say anything…"

"You don't understand!" he yells back. "I ordered him!"

They stand in silence, none, not knowing what to do or say next. Keith finally speaks up, "I have to contact his family and the Garrison. Excuse me." He walks out of the control room.

Nanny takes a crying Allura out of Control and to her room.

Not knowing what else to do, Lance shakes his head, "I…I need to get out of here." and runs out of the room.

Darrell and Coran stay alone. Coran walks to the young pilot, "Darrell, please tell me how I can help you."

Shaking his head, Darrell answers the advisor, "You can't, Coran." With tears flowing out of his eyes, he repeats himself, "You can't."

************

Darrell wakes up the next morning hearing the ringing of his video phone. _'God, what now?'_ Groggily, he finds his glasses on his night stand, puts it on surprised he actually found sleep last night. The sound of ringing persists until he presses the button to connect.

"Oh Darrell, I'm so happy you're ok!" He hears Sarah telling him, "I…"

"I'm fine Sarah, don't worry about me, I'm all right." He finds himself shaking his head and saying the sentence kind of mechanically. As if he knew what she was about to say.

"How could I not worry?" She tells him, her eyes wide open, "I called yesterday and they told me you were in battle and when I called again, no one told me what's going on, and then..."

"Um, Sarah, something happened yesterday…"

"Yes, I know, that's what I called to tell you, I won't be able to make it this week. I have to see some of Daddy's family. I've never really met them, but since his passing, they now want to meet Mom and I. I couldn't say no. I just found out." she replies regretfully.

"No, that's not what I wanted to say...yesterday…"

"It wasn't?" She asks back, cutting him again.

_'Why does she keep on interrupting me?'_

Sarah smiles, "Listen, I know you have a lot to do after what happened yesterday. I'll come to Arus next week. I have to get ready, my transport leaves in an hour."

"Sure…Sarah, be safe." He tells her, wondering if he should tell her about Hunk.

Nodding, Sarah tells him before she breaks communication, "You be safe too Darrell. I…I'll miss you."

Darrell looks at the black screen confused, "Why couldn't I tell her anything?" He whispers to himself out loud.

**********

Darrell walks toward the halls of the castle the next morning numb, unable to believe or even understand what took place yesterday. This was not supposed to happen, Hunk was not supposed to die. His best friend, his brother, killed. What was he supposed to say to his mother, to his sisters back on Earth? To Selena, whom Hunk had grown closer to since they were back on Arus?

He's suddenly distracted by the sudden whistling coming from the other end of the hall way and notices Lance walking toward him, "You won't believe this, but Keith is giving us a break today!" Lance tells him all excited.

"I should hope so Lance," Darrell tells him with a short tone. "After what we went through yesterday…"

"Why the face Darrell?" Lance cuts him off. "You should be happy. Keith giving us a day off is like Moses parting the Red Sea for God's sake. It's a miracle!"

About to blow up, Darrell raises his voice, "Lance, have you gone nuts?"

"Hell ya!" Lance answers him, "And if you excuse me, I'm going back to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. Things like this don't happen everyday!" he says with a wink, "You should too, you look like crap!"

With that, Lance continues his walk to his room in merriment. Darrell, horrified continues to look at Lance with wonder, '_Maybe he's more affected by this than he lets on'_ he ponders. His thoughts continue as he walks slowly through the halls turning left to go to the dining room for some much needed coffee. Then, he startles at a disruption.

"Good morning!" a cheery voice calls out.

Darrell looks at her confused and a little hurt,_ 'How could she be this happy at a time like this? __Maybe it's shock?'_ he thinks. Dismissing the awkward attitude, Darrell offers his condolences anyways.

"Selena, I'm sorry about Hunk. I know that…"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" she cuts him off and waves the apology off with her hand. "Hey, what can I say, it comes with the territory."

"What!"

"It's ok Darrell." She answers smiling. "Listen, I have to go. I have a couple of patients I need to check on before Dr. Gorma does his rounds. I'll talk to you later."

'_What the hell is going on here and why does this feel familiar?'_ Darrell thinks as Selena turns the corner and down the hallway.

After she walks away, Darrell heads into the dining room, expecting both Keith and Allura there; _Keith will probably want to discuss funeral arrangements and other details_. His tears begin to well up again at the thought of preparing funeral arrangements for Hunk. He remembers when Sven was thought to be dead, and that was hard enough to take, but Hunk...

As walks in, completely defeated, he hears a sudden familiar voice that raises the panic in him, "Good morning Shorty!"

He looks up, terror stricken; his eyes registering the person across the room, smiling at him. He tries to speak, but the shock takes the better of him. Before him, stands the person he was just crying about moments earlier.

"Darrell, you ok body?" Hunk asks concerned.


	7. Wicked Manifestations

Special Thanks to my Editors!!!!

Here's the next chapter!

Darrell looks terror-stricken as he looks at the man he thought perished the day before. He shakes his head to see if he's imagining the person in front of him.

"Hunk," he states in disbelief. It's that you?"

Laughing, Hunk answers the kid, "I think you were whacked more than we originally thought."

Darrell runs to Hunk and hugs him tightly like a child running to a parent when he seeks comfort. A little concerned now, Hunk hugs him back asking, "Hey, Darrell, you are you sure you don't want to see Gorma? I mean, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Letting go, Darrell answers him, "I…I…just had a very bad dream I guess. Just a very bad dream Hunk." _Not to mention pretty damn real as well!_

----------

After breakfast, both men head to the repair bay to work on the lions. Darrell notices that everything remains the same as he remembered the previous day, _or in my dream,_ he tries to rationalize.

Suddenly, he hears the engines of Yellow lion go off and he sees Hunk shaking his head, "They still don't sound right." He blurts, throwing a tool on the floor in frustration. "I'm not sure what it is, but they just sound wrong."

Darrell looks at him in awe; _I said and did the same thing yesterday._ Before his thought concludes, he declares, "I know what it is."

Hunk turns around in disbelief, "Really, just by the sound of the engine?"

Nodding his head, Darrell doesn't answer. Instead, he walks up to the panel, his heart thumping and hoping that he is wrong about what he wished wouldn't be the discovery. He swallows hard. Unfortunately, _it's exactly what I thought._ Sighing heavily, trying to conceal his fright, he turns to Hunk, "It's the loose wiring. Let's fix it right away."

-----------

Darrell tries to steady his hands as everything in front of him replays exactly as it did the day before. The alarms sound just as he finished fixing the wiring. Within moments, he suddenly finds himself by the mountains waiting on Keith's signal to lift and attack.

Soon he sees Beauty and Black lion reach the mountain. Black accelerates, passing the mountain's peak when Keith yells, "Now!"

Darrell sees as all three lions pull up, firing at the same time; Lance hits two proton missiles that hit her eyes head on. Allura hits one side of the head and Darrell the other. Upon this, Beauty releases her grip from Yellow and Hunk accelerates with the thrusters. It is then that Darrell holds his breath and watches as Yellow charges away from beauty.

"Yes!" he shouts excitedly to himself. The excitement ends, however, as Beauty turns to her side and begins shooting daggers at the three lions surrounding her.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Keith immediately yells as he tries to evade some daggers coming his way.

The lions fall back, but Beauty continues charging, suddenly taking Red's tail and swinging it around, hitting it continuously against one of the mountain peaks.

"Argghhh!" Lance screams as the various hits throw him from the pilot chair.

"Lance!" Allura shouts.

"I can't shake her off!"

Black lion rushes in. "Stingray missiles, all of you! Take that bitch down!"

The missiles smash into Beauty's body making holes in her arms and back, but she does not release Red lion. Seeing an ocean over the mountain's peak, Beauty zooms over the peak and plunges into the deeper part of sea taking Red with her.

Dragging him down, Lance tries leaping back into his chair, but she constantly shakes the lion like a rag doll bumping him all over the cockpit.

"Keith! Help!"

"On my way, Lance!"

Lance feels Red lion hit the ocean floor with a hard slam. Facing the beast through Red's eyes, he sees Beauty opening her mouth showing him her razor sharp fangs. "I hope you're not going to do what I think you're going to do." Lance breathes heavily. Then, his eyes grow wide with fear.

"Shit!" he yells as Beauty slices Red's head and detaches its body throwing it to across the sea floor.

-------

"Lance!" Keith screams from his comm. "Allura, get him out of here. The rest of you, protect the princess!"

"Right!" Allura dives in and searches for Red Lion. Moments later, she sees Red's head lying on the opposite end of the floor. From a distance, Darrell already sees the cockpit filling up with water.

------

"Use your oxygen tube Lance!" Allura tries to communicate, but she only receives static as she tries to connect to his comm. "Shit!"

In the cockpit, Lance desperately tries to find a way to escape. Seeing none, he grabs the oxygen hose, "Shit, doesn't work. Nothing's working."

The cockpit fills faster than he realizes and before he knows it, he's already floating toward the top of it. "Damn it!" He yells before taking a deep breath and feeling the water cover him.

-----

Allura flies closer to Red lion's head when she's blasted from the side. "Aaaaghh!!"

"Princess!" Darrell yells as he uses his lion's tail and blasts rays at the beast to turn her way from Allura.

Keith and Hunk jump on the beast to hold her back.

"Get Lance out!" Keith yells.

------

Lance continues holding his breath knowing that they will arrive soon. The waiting feels endless, he hears the rays, the blast, or maybe the movement of the water against the cockpits feels like blasts. _Does that make sense?_ He asks himself. He can't breathe. Whatever he held, now gone, Lance begins to slip. His eyes begin to shut, despite fighting to keep them open. Everything looks blurry, his chest feels heavy. With time, he doesn't feel the vibrations anymore or the movement of the water. Lance feels nothing at all.

------

Allura lifts off once again, not bothering to see what the others do to stop the robeast. Her direction is strictly on what remains of Red. Quickly she swoops in and grabs the head, flying up to the surface.

The robeast shakes both Black and Yellow lions off and flies up to the surface. All three fly after her, thinking she'll attack Blue, surprisingly, she flies away from Arus. "What the hell!" Hunk states in disbelief.

"Forget her, we need to take Lance out of there," Darrell tells Hunk, hoping his instincts are wrong.

-------

Repeating the steps for the sixth time, Keith places the heel of his left hand once again in the middle of Lance's chest covering the hand with the right hand; his fingers interlaced beginning CPR procedures.

After the compressions, he tilts his head, lifts his chin and opens his mouth to get access the airway. He seals Lance's mouth with his own and breathes heard enough to see Lance's chest rising.

Allura cries uncontrollably as Hunk holds onto her.

"Damn it Lance!" Keith yells in frustration. "Wake up!"

Lance's blue lips have not changed into a lighter hue and his skin remains a morbid gray. Keith's attempts to revive him for the last five minutes fail miserably.

Darrell feels his chest about to pop out. _'This can't be happening again!'_

He sees desperately how Keith continues CPR with no avail. _'Tomorrow. I'll be ready tomorrow,'_ he nods to himself before walking to them, kneeling beside the captain and putting his hand on his shoulders, "Keith, it's over." he tells him softly. "Let him go."

Keith looks at Darrell, confused by his sudden cool control. Shaking his head, "No," Keith tells him. He turns around and tries to begin again, but Darrell holds him back. "Stop it! He's gone. Keith, let him go."

-----

Darrell stands outside one of the balconies of the castle looking at the dark mystic night lying ahead of him, planning, strategizing; finding a loop to this agonizing hole he feels he is continuously falling in.

He cannot continue living this cycle again. Dr. Gorma sedated the princess hours earlier and Nanny stayed with her for the rest of the evening. Hunk spent the rest of the day working, putting together Red, skipping dinner and not speaking to anyone, including Darrell, _probably the only way he feels a connection to Lance now._ Keith locked himself in his office as soon as they made it back to castle control room and stayed there. Darrell suspected he drank himself into unconsciousness.

He plays the last two days in his mind over and over until he is sure he will find a way to break the cycle. Darryl calculates what steps he needs to make in order to save both Hunk and Lance, for he is sure the cycle will continue tomorrow. His usually soft features harden as he swears, _I'll be damned if I see another one of them die before my eyes._


	8. And So It Continues

A special thanks to my wonderful editors Harmony Winters and Mertz! Gracias muchachas.

And So It Continues….

Darrell wakes up the next morning hearing the ringing of his video phone. Quickly, he finds his glasses on his night stand, puts them on and presses the button to connect.

"Oh Darrell, I'm so happy you're ok!" He hears her voice once again. "I spoke to Hunk yesterday and he told me you had finally woken up."

He stares at her. His girl, so he thought at first. Now, he does not know who this person could be. The young girl smiles back, her hazel eyes glowing as she sees him, "What's wrong?" She immediately asks.

"Nothing," Darrell simply answers. "I'm fine, Sarah, don't worry," he tells her almost mechanically, knowing exactly her next words.

He is not disappointed.

"How could I not worry?" She puffs. "I called yesterday and they told me you were in battle and when I called again, no one told me what was going on, and then they told me you were brought into MedTech. How could I not worry?"

"Sarah, I'm fine, really, still alive, aren't I?" He tells her flatly, "Let me guess, you need to visit your father's family this weekend?"

"That's right! How did you know?" She asks, surprised.

"Wild guess."

"I promise I'll make it there next week. I'm on break from school for a month, so there's still time for me to visit…is that okay?"

"Sure," he answers, his tone unchanging.

Sarah smiles, "Ok, Darrell. I'll call you tomorrow, we can talk more then. I have to get ready, my transport leaves in an hour. I'm sorry," she states regretfully before cutting the transmission off.

"Sure, Sarah, be safe." He whispers to himself.

He quickly rises and prepares to end this cycle that is gradually destroying him physically and mentally as he continues living through it.

***********

Darrell walks the halls of the castle expecting to hear a whistling sound, and waiting for Lance to make his appearance. Neither happens. Swallowing hard, he begins to pray that the cycle did not break, preventing him from fixing the last two days.

Suddenly the alarms of the castle blast, from behind he hears the hard steps of someone coming up behind him. He turns to find Lance running toward him. "You won't believe this, but Lotor's attacking the castle!" Lance yells, as he runs past him.

"No! The cycle changed!" Darrell yells, without thinking.

"What!" Lance turns, "Darrell, we are under attack! Stop looking at me like a nut job and get your ass to the control center!"

Nodding absently, he runs along with Lance to the control room.

******************

Entering the control room, Darrell hears Keith barking out orders. "To your lions, NOW!"

"How many?" Lance asks Coran, who sits at the helm.

"He's brought in an entire fleet." The advisor answers with a worried tone. "I'm not sure you can stop all of them."

"We have to." Keith answers. "We have no choice."

"Keith, I don't like the looks of it." Darrell tells him as they headed for the chutes.

"Neither do I." Keith answers, "Watch your back out there."

"You too."

Darrell goes down his chute, hoping the outcome this time is different, knowing, however, the cycle changed into a twisted new game that he would have to learn how to play once again.

--------

Blasting three ships out of the air as he makes his way to the mother ship, Darrell contacts his commander. "Keith, we need to destroy Lotor's ship before he sends out the robeast."

"What I don't understand is why he hasn't sent it out already," Lance answers back, looking at the enormous mother ship in front of him. The circular plate has eight immense doors that continuously shoot out miniature versions of the big ship. The more they destroy, the more come out to take their place. "What the hell is he trying to do?"

"He's trying to decrease our power supply," Keith interjects. "Guys, check your power levels."

"I'm at sixty percent." Lance immediately states.

"Sixty two." Hunk replies.

"Sixty Five," Allura answers.

"Seventy five." Darrell finishes last.

"That's what he's trying to do." Keith tells them. "With the lion's power levels down, Voltron will not function at full capacity."

"Keith," Allura cuts in, "What's your power level?"

"I'm on backup."

"What! That's impossible! You have the greatest supply of all the lions." Darrell calls out.

"I patrolled twice yesterday remember. One to cover your shift, and then I did my late shift. Black didn't have time to fully recharge."

_He's next. He's the one who's next! _Darrell inwardly groans. "I need to save him." He whispers to himself.

"What?" Keith cuts in. "Darrell, I didn't catch that."

"Nothing. What do you want us to do?" Darrell asks, evading two incoming ships.

"Forget destroying ships for now; concentrate on sealing those portals on the mother ship. Do not let any more ships out. I guarantee Lotor will release the robeast then."

"Then what? We won't have enough power for Voltron," Lance reminds him, worriedly.

"One blow Lieutenant. That's all we'll have. Darrell, run the scan as soon as you see the robeast. We'll target the weak link immediately." Keith replies.

"Easier said than done Captain," Hunk states, concerned.

"I know Hunk. That's all I can offer for now. All right, let's do this!" Keith swerves off and heads toward the ship. "Lance, take the West end. Hunk, take the North. Darrell, South. Princess and I can take the East end.

"Let me go with you, Keith." Darrell interjects. "You're running on back up and I have the most power left right now. You need me. The Princess can take South."

"He's right Keith. You need him."

"Fine," Keith replies, reluctantly. "No heroics, Princess, I mean it."

"Yes sir!" she chimes in as she breaks off toward the South end of the ship.

Darrell follows Black, studying the lay out in front of him. _He's not dying today. No one is._ His brows furrow in thought.

All lions evade the ships instead of attacking them and head toward the portals closing them off with missile blasts and preventing them from releasing any more ships.

"South end shut," Allura calls out.

"So is North."

"West destroyed!"

"So is East," Darrell calls out, still firing at any ship remotely close to Keith's lion.

As predicted, the beast comes out of the mother ship ready to destroy, as she lets out a horrendous scream.

"Her again? I thought we destroyed her," Hunk groans, in disbelief.

"Man, she's one annoying bitch!" Lance snorts.

"Tell me about it," Darrell replies, sick of seeing Beauty once again.

"Focus people!" Keith barks out. "Initiate V formation and begin engaging sequence."

Immediately, all lions fly up into formation, taking the first steps in forming Voltron. Darrell keeps his sights on Black, ready to attack should the lion encounter trouble. The moment Black begins changing shape, Beauty flies in front of his line of sight. She opens her hands as thin spikes fly out of her palms. Keith screams, "Fall back! Fall back!" As he disengages and lifts off evading the first of the spikes.

The other four break the formation, flying out of the way. Darrell keeps his eyes on Black lion as Beauty charges at it. "I'm going to have her chase me! The four of you attack from behind! Ready...?"

"Keith!"

"What's wrong Lance?" Keith answers, hearing panic in his voice.

"Allura's down!"

Darrell turns his lion. _Oh no_! He notices the Beast take off, away from Black lion. Keith doesn't even bother to go after her. His attention turns to Blue who has already plummeted to the hard ground.

"Allura! Answer me!" Keith yells, blasting toward her at full speed.

Landing Black close to Blue lion, Keith exits Black. He already sees the pane in Blue's eyes broken from the spikes; he barely notices the other lions landing around him.

"Allura!" he yells, as he jumps in through the broken pane. When he sees her, his heart sinks. Keith jumps inside Blue, stepping on the console; eyes widened, when he sees her. "No!" he yells.

Allura stares back at him, her blue eyes frozen forever with a look of shock and horror. Spikes protrude from her chest, one passed right through her leaving a hole in her forehead and embedding itself against the back wall along with other spikes that entrenched the cockpit.

Keith slowly reaches for her, his eyes full of tears; his face pale. "Please, Oh God...oh, God...."

Darrell, the next of the others to reach him, screams "No! Oh no...Not her....Oh God, not her!" Unable to believe he mistook the next one in line.

----

Landing Black lion in a laying position, Keith walks out of his ship carrying Allura carefully. Nanny runs up to him, screaming when she sees who he carries. She drops to the floor unable to control her emotions; some guards standing in the bay, pick her up and guide her away, despite her protests.

Coran walks toward him as well, looking grim and angry at the same time.

"I'm...so....sorry..." Keith's voice cracked. "Coran..."

"It's all right Captain," Coran answers, trying desperately to prevent his tears from flowing while trying to maintain a dignified stance.

"I killed her." Keith bellows, feeling his heart break in two.

Coran caresses her still warm cheek with his finger. "She died doing what she believed was right."

Keith could not stand any longer, his legs shake and finally give out. He drops to his knees, Allura still within his arms, holding her tightly as the tears continuously roll down his cheeks.

The others landed their lions in their lairs and quickly make it to the landing strip. As they run closer, they see Keith hold onto the Princess, weeping over her, holding her head to his chest.

Darrell swears that between Keith's mumbles he hears him whisper to Allura, "I can't live; I can't make it without you, Allura."

Lance sits beside his best friend. "It's okay Keith... it's okay." His voice cracks as he utters these words.

Through all this, no one notices as another figure walks out of the castle doors and takes quick steps toward them.

Darrell finally notices and turns around, surprised to see Darien walking toward them along with three of his security officers.

Upon seeing the group, he immediately starts his ranting, "What the hell is going on? Coran tell me what's the meaning of –-?" He stops short when he sees Keith holding Allura's lifeless body. "Allura..."

Suddenly Darien's face contorts as his eyes fire up; he gives Keith a look of pure fury. "What...did you...do to her?"

"Prince Darien..." Coran starts, but Darien pushes him out of the way.

"You pathetic excuse of a man! You killed her! You destroyed her and Arus along with it!" he shouts, coming up and shoving Keith in the shoulder; ignoring the body the Captain still holds in his arms. "Damn it, Garrison said you were the best. You're a failure, Kogane, a complete and utter failure!" Keith does not fight him; his eyes continue to stare into Allura's now closed ones.

"Stop it!" Lance counters. "This isn't going to help things. It wasn't his fault!"

The Prince snorts. "Coran, take Allura inside. We'll start the preparations for the funeral immediately." He orders coldly before he turns around and heads back to the castle with his guards.

Darrell tries to cry, but nothing comes out. It is as if he is seeing a movie playing in front of him, yet he is a participant who cannot be proactive in it. He watches Keith carefully place Allura's body on the floor, caress her hair and give her a melancholy smile, "I won't do this without you." Darrell swears he hears the words come out of his captain's mouth.

He watches Keith stand and walk toward the Prince, looking at him with soulless eyes. He turns Darien around pulling his shoulder and punches the Prince hard enough that he falls on the floor.

His guards immediately withdraw their guns, aiming them at Keith.

Lance runs up. "Stop it!"

"Lance!" Keith yells. "Stay away. This is between Darien and I."

Darrell notices Keith's tone of voice. One that he has never heard before, it sounds lifeless, cold, and dead. Lance does not halt, he continues, but Darrell stops him, instinctively knowing what will happen.

Darien laughs as he stands up. "You shouldn't have done that Captain. I cannot only have you demoted to a mere private, but I can make sure you have first class accommodations in a Garrison prison cell." he tells him as he wipes a trickle of blood from his bottom lip.

"You never loved her you son of a bitch!" Keith tells him coldly. "You never cared."

Darien rolls his eyes, "Not love, Captain. Power, it's all about power. You just cost me Voltron. Go to hell Captain, you and this place are not worth my time anymore!" Darien turns and begins to walk away with his guards in tow.

Keith turns to face his friends. He gives them one last glance before telling them. "It's up to you to keep Arus safe now." Within seconds, he takes out his blaster and walks up to Darien. "I may be going to hell...but you're coming with me."

He pulls the trigger and shoots Darien point blank in the head. The prince falls back, landing on the ground face up, his dead eyes staring up in terror. Darrell and the rest of the group shout uselessly as Darien's guards lift their guns and begin shooting at Keith. The Captain falls after the sixth shot that pierces his body. Keith gasps for air as everyone runs to him. Once close to him, Darrell stares at his dying Captain as he listens to his last words. "Allura..."


	9. The Line Breaks

Hello everyone! One more chapter after this one and we are done with Story five in the series!

Thank you so much Harm and Mertz for your ongoing quest to make my writing even better. Love you guys!!!

Enjoy Chapter 9- The Line Breaks

Darrell walks through the halls of the castle a determined man. He heads to the control room, knowing exactly what it will take to end this vicious cycle. His friends would not suffer any longer. Three people died, the cycle played a nasty trick on him today, but not tomorrow. He knows tomorrow something different will occur, he would prepare.

He plays the recordings of the battle over and over for hours, looking for any clues, a pattern, something that would give him an advantage. Every occurrence always starts with the robeast attack. _The beginning of the pattern_. Something he did in those battles changes the course of events and repeats the day over and over. But, he can't pinpoint what.

As he watches over and over, everything seems right, the timing, the decisions, everything. Giving up after finding nothing, he walks over to the library to look up information on whatever he is experiencing.

Reading everything thoroughly, he does not notice the person who comes in.

"Darrell, what are you doing?"

Darrell looks up from his book, startled by the sound of another person in the room. "Lance, what are you doing here?"

"Honestly, I didn't know where else to go. I just spent hours trying to convince Admiral Graham to give Keith a proper military burial, but the Garrison denied it. It seems that blowing off a Prince's head is not proper military protocol."

"I can't blame him for what he did, after what Darien said, I mean…"

"Bastard!" Lance grunts, shaking his head. "Have you seen Hunk?"

"He went straight to the repair bay after the interrogation. Lance…you still haven't told me what you are doing here?" Darrell asks again, not wanting to sound annoyed, but desperately trying to return to the information he needs to find.

"I came to say my goodbye to Keith."

At that statement, Darrell raises his brow at Lance.

"I'm not nuts!" Lance immediately states. "I went to the gardens for about an hour to visit Allura. I figure if she was a ghost or something, she'd walk the gardens. You know how much Allura loved the gardens. It was her sanctuary. I bid her goodbye. I had a long talk about how special she made my life and how I promise to continue protecting her people, even though she's not with us anymore…no matter what." He finishes almost choking up.

"I know how you feel. I wouldn't leave this place, even if the Garrison demanded it."

Lance clears his throat and takes a chair, looking around the room briefly before sitting across from Darrell, "I figured this is Keith's place. The man never stopped reading!" he offers a melancholy smile.

"Probably why he knew so much."

"I guess so." Lance pauses. "Darrell, what are we going to do without them?"

"You heard Keith, we protect Arus, his orders remember?"

Lance nods in acceptance. "I know, but I miss them. It won't be the same without them, It won't be the same energy, the same....feeling of greatness, we had." He sighs in frustration, "This seems so strange to me; I feel like I've been sucked into some twisted bizarre world I can't seem to escape out of. At least Keith and Allura found a way out.

At hearing these words, Darrell perks up, "What did you say?"

"What?"

"You said something about being in a bizarre world..." he continues taunting to see what else Lance tells him.

"Darrell, it's just an expression; didn't mean anything by it, man."

Suddenly, it all makes sense. He remembers. He remembers everything and now he knows.

"That's okay Lance. I'm done with my work. I'll give you sometime alone to give your goodbyes."

Lance immediately sighs and returns to his solemn state, "Thanks, Darrell. I'll see you tomorrow."

Darrell nods. "I'll see you."

----------

Darrell lies in bed, his eyes open. Unable to sleep, he runs over his plan once again in his mind. He has gone over it for about the tenth time, but he needs it to go flawlessly if he wants to end this cycle. The lives of his friends depend on it, his sanity as well.

He wants his old life again. He needs to see his friends again, his real friends. When you live life in constant chaos and turmoil, a thin line exists that divides the barriers between good and evil, love and hate, sanity and insanity. He crossed it, and is in the midst of confusion.

_No turning back,_ he thinks, turning to his side and closing his eyes. _No turning back._

*****************

Smiling, Darrell looks at Beauty with wild eyes. He intercepted every time Beauty decided to attack one of the lions. He laughs joyously; he would beat her for sure this time around.

"Stand back Green Lion!" Keith barks the order roughly, "What the hell is going on with you Darrell? This isn't a suicide mission damn it!"

"No can do, Captain. This is the only way we can beat the bitch!"

Lance pops ups on visuals as well, "Darrell, what are you trying to prove? You're going to kill us all!"

"No, Lance. You don't understand. I have to do it." _To save you all,_ he tells himself.

Suddenly Beauty flies up and begins expelling fire darts from her wings, all lions ducked, but the Yellow Lion isn't fast enough. When Darrell sees Hunk about to get blasted, he speeds and pushes Yellow lion out of the way, but not without avoiding a blast to Green lion's leg.

"Darrell!" Keith yells out.

"I'm fine!" He yells back, shaking his head, feeling the hit.

Flying over the Beauty, Keith yells out, "We need to form Voltron now!"

"No!" Darrell calls out desperately, searching for a way to delay forming Voltron. "I'm found a weak spot." He lies, "If we hit it first, we'll have an easier way to defeat her when we do form Voltron."

"Where is it?" Keith asks roughly. "Come on Darrell, we don't have enough time. She's coming right at us!"

He knows he is thinking carelessly, but Darrell can't allow another day to pass by. This is it, if he died today; there would be no turning back. That's what he told himself yesterday before he fell asleep. Living this hell was maddening. He couldn't continue doing it, and if he failed, he failed, but dying would be better than living this nightmare!

"Darrell!" Lance now calls out. "Where's her weak link?"

"Her heart; it's covered by the armor, but I can penetrate through it."

"How in the hell can you do that?" Hunk questions.

"Darrell, Hunk's right," Allura offers. "We've tried hitting her armor, it is impenetrable."

"No!" He lies, "I have just the weapon for it."

"What?" Keith asks, clearly confused, but a sudden realization hits him. "Wait! No, you're not doing this!"

"It's the only way Keith." Darrell pulls up visuals.

"You're not doing it! That's an order, Lieutenant!"

Darrell ignores him. He pushes the thrusters and charges at Beauty as she charges at them.

"Darrell, pull back!" barks Keith through the comm. "Pull back, damn it!"

Darrell turns off the comm. continuing his destination. _It's all right._ _I'll either see them soon or this hell will end._

"Darrell, shit!" Lance yells. "Pull back, damn it!"

"Darrell no!" Hunk yells watching Green head closer to Beauty.

"Darrell!" Allura yells as well.

As he closes in on her, he sees the armor coming toward him. He accelerates his lion to full speed, shuts his eyes and feels darkness swallow him as he hears Beauty's scream.

***************

At first, he sees a white light, but then again, whiteness surrounds him, a vast endless whiteness that does not stop. _So this is death_. He thinks to himself. However, soon the light becomes transparent, clearer.

As it clears, he sees a yellow blur. Soon, rich blue eyes, the color of the sea, full of water greet him. A beautiful smile welcomes him. He seems to remember that smile. A voice, echoes in his ears, "Darrell, please, say something,"

"Princess?" He asks softly.

"Hot damn! He's awake!" Hunk answers loudly.

"Hunk, lower your voice!" He hears another voice.

"Princess, you're here." Darrell continues, pleased to hear her voice.

His vision clears and when it does, he sees the best image he could ever imagine, his friends all gathered around him at MedTech.

"Wait," he lifts himself up suddenly.

"Darrell, stay still." Lance coaxes.

"I'm all right." Darrell answers immediately. "Did I kill the robeast?"

"The robeast?" Lance asks confused.

"Yes, Beauty. I slammed right into her."

"Honey," Allura soothes him by caressing his hair gently. "What on Arus are you talking about?"

Darrell looks at them dumbfounded. "Beauty, she attacked Arus, again and again. We tried to stop her but every time we tried, she..." he continues listening to himself, his tale sounding even strange to him for some reason.

"Darrell it's okay," Allura offers, "You were caught up in that gas cloud, its lighting rays struck Green. You've been missing for two days. Yesterday, Hunk and Keith found you, unconscious inside Green Lion."

"So how long have I been out?"

"Since we found you, two days," Hunk answers, noting Darrell's confusion in lapse of time.

"Oh man, so I've been dreaming all this time." Darrell groans, not looking at anyone in particular. "It seemed so real."

"Well, you better rest. I'm calling Dr. Gorma to check on you."

"Thanks Lance..." he replies but when he begins to look around his nerves immediately start up. "Where's Keith! Where is he?"

"Calm down Darrell! He was in here earlier, but had to take a call, he'll be right back." Lance explains.

Nodding, he allows himself to relax, "You don't understand, the things I saw..."

"Darrell, are you okay, honey?" Allura asks concerned.

"It was just a dream, buddy." Hunk reassures him by touching his shoulder.

He nods, still unsure if whatever he lived through the last couple of days actually subsisted in his mind. His thought suddenly heckles when the sound of his room door swooshes open.

"Hey, look who decided to join back the land of the living," he hears a voice call out.

"Keith!" Darrell exclaims, despite his head throbbing.

"Hey buddy, I'm glad you're back." Keith answers, walking up to him.

Keith looked more tired than the last time he saw him, but at least he was in better spirits.

"How are you feeling?"

"Just glad I'm alive, I mean all right!" Darrell replies with a wan smile.

Keith looks up at the rest of the group, "Well, we better let him rest. Dr. Gorma informed me he'll pass by in a bit, but he already told me he expects Darrell to stay at MedTech for a couple of days." He finishes, turning his sights back to Darrell.

"I've been in here for a couple of days," Darrell protests.

"Yes, you want to give Keith some competition?" Hunk laughs.

Darrell rolls his eyes; "It's just that I've missed so much." he looks up at the team, "What have I missed?"

"Darrell, you should really rest, we can tell you this tomorrow." Lance stands up.

"Don't start feeding me crap Lance. Keith, what did I miss? I remember going after the crystal and saving Princess Sinah."

Lance nods in approval, "Yes, the Princess is doing all right, although she's still battling her emotions with the loss of her father. We lost the crystal to Lotor."

Darrell's face pales, "So he has it now." Confirming what he already knows.

Keith rubs his tired eyes. "Aha. I just finished speaking with the Garrison. I told them everything I know so far. They have news as well."

"And?" Lance asks, now worried due to the look of Keith's face.

"Lotor contacted Garrison a couple of hours ago. He's officially declaring war on the entire Denubian Galaxy."

"Keith, we're already at war," Hunk corrects his captain.

Keith shakes his head, "No, Hunk. So far, he's attacked Arus, out of revenge. He kidnapped Sinah to retrieve the crystal. He's never officially threatened the entire galaxy. Today, he declared that he is ready to attack at will."

"How are we going to defeat him? His army is so much larger," Allura states looking at no one.

"I'm coordinating a Summit. We'll need all the armies we can have at our side." He pauses for a bit. "This means we will probably need Merla's help also."

Allura and Lance immediately look up, about to disagree.

"I know your concerns, but for now, we need her. She's the only one who can feed us information on the inside."

"Damn it," Lance whispers to himself.

Keith looks at Darrell, "You're staying here until Gorma allows you out. The rest of us begin indefinite active duty starting tomorrow. I've upgraded our threat level to red."

Everyone in the room maintains their silence. Red meant full alert mode. More guard duty, more patrolling, more of everything. "War is a bitch." Lance sighs to himself.

"What about Sven?" They hear a sudden voice come in as the door of the room opens.

"Romelle," Allura murmurs sadly.

"What about Sven?" Romelle asks again in an irritated tone.

"Romelle," Keith begins, walking to her and holding her hand. "I haven't stopped searching. I promise you, when I find any information, believe me, I'll make him a priority. I will find him."

She nods sadly and remains quiet for a while until she looks at the man resting in the bed. "I'm glad you are all right, Darrell."

"Thank you, Romelle," he manages to tell her.

Allura stands up immediately, "Come on Romelle, I'll help you dress for dinner."

When both ladies leave the room, Keith turns to the rest of the group, "All right guys, let's allow Darrell to rest. Glad you're back, man." he finishes before leaving the room.

"Yeah, glad you're awake buddy," Lance smiles before he walks out. "I'll see you later."

With Lance gone, only Hunk remains. He takes a seat next to his friend's bed, "You scared the hell out of me Darrell."

"I'm sorry Hunk."

Hunk nods. "I know, it wasn't your fault. I guess I still think of you as my little brother. I feel that I need to protect you."

Darrell smiles, "Hunk, you can't always protect me."

"You've grown up. I need to realize that. Just make sure you don't scare me too often."

Laughing, Darrell replies, "I promise."

Hunk stands up, "Okay, I'll come and visit you after dinner."

"Sure."

"Well, let me run out of here before Gorma cuts my head for overdoing my visit."

The big man stands up and walks toward the door, when Darrell stops him once more, "Hunk?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about your date with Selena, you know, that you missed it and all."

"Naw, don't sweat it. She's making me dinner tomorrow night." Hunk answers with a huge grin. "Even better!" He laughs and gives him a wink. "Later." He hollers before he walks out.

Darrell rolls his eyes, "Thank God I'm back."

"Indeed Mr. Stoker!" Dr. Gorma walks in almost instantly, "Now let's check if you've done anymore damage to yourself, shall we?"


	10. The Beginning is the End

Last Chapter!!!! Whoo hoo!!!! Kisses and Hugs to my editors!!!

Standing on her balcony, feeling the light breeze of the night caress her face, Allura takes pleasure in the small instances when she can feel at peace. This is one of those moments. The stars twinkle, the breeze make the trees dance and the cool night air envelopes her. These rare moments make her smile and appreciate her planet, despite of all the chaos and evil around her.

Taking in the night through a deep breath in her lungs, she exhales smiling as the chime of the door calls for her. Surprised, she turns away from the balcony and re-enters her room. She figures that everyone had called it a night after a late dinner. Normally going to the Rec room to relax, what remained of the team tonight just stayed in the dining room for a brief time having idle chatter.

Darrell rested at MedTech; Romelle, going through pure hell at the moment, retired to her room early. Hunk went to visit Darrell. Keith, having forgone dinner, stayed in his office working. His message, not one bit comforting, made him into a bigger workaholic now. After dinner, Allura went back to her rooms to reflect on all the latest events, despite Lance's insistence on staying to keep him company.

Allura noted Keith's absence at dinner. Ever since they returned from their mission, she noticed that he'd speak to her only when needed. She also noted that he stayed as far away as possible from her. _Maybe I was too hard on him _she thinks. It feels extremely weird not having him around, almost frightening.

She reaches the door, lost in thought, unprepared to find the person standing across it once it opens. Shock registered in her mind, but she didn't give him the satisfaction of showing it to him.

"You missed dinner." She simply states, matter-of-factly.

Keith nods slightly, "I had a meeting with the palace guards, giving them new instructions on maintaining protocol on a level red."

"You came all this way to tell me this?" She asks him coldly. Inside the urge to take him into her arms suffocates her.

"No," Keith shakes his head, "I…I'm sorry Allura." He tells her with all the emotion he can conjure in his tone. "I'm sorry I spoke to you the way I did earlier."

She smiles, "I'm sorry too. I'm just worried about you."

Nodding in agreement, Keith answers her, "I know…It's just that…I just have a lot of things on my mind."

Somehow, to her, he does not sound convincing. Allura knows him too well. "Can you please tell what's wrong? Keith, I know there's more to this. Can you please trust me?"

He takes a deep breath. _So much to tell her, but at what cost_. He thinks to himself. Keith looks into her eyes and sees her own turmoil, for him. _This…thing…this awful thing is starting to affect her as well now._ "Umm…" he hid it for so many months; he does not know how to even begin.

Allura gives him a gentle smile, "Why don't you come in? We can talk."

Shaking his head he tells her, "No…I don't think that's a good idea."

"Keith…"

"Allura, I'm not about to give Darien anymore ammunition." His voice turns cold, but then he softens. "Like I said, there are too many things I'm dealing with at the moment. I know that I haven't been myself since Doom and well it's because…" Suddenly he feels an extra pair of eyes on them and he turns to see one of the guards on the end of the hallway watching them intensely.

"Malikite? What are you doing here?" he calls to the young officer.

Keith can see the nerves on the young man's face, even at a distance. "I…I'm sorry Captain." He begins with a stutter. "I...I was looking for Mateo, I needed to speak to him and I was told his post is by the Princess' chambers."

"He's posted on the east end of the building." Keith states as Allura steps out of her room and sees the officer. "Malikite, I hope what you're discussing deals with work. You do know that private matters are discussed off duty."

"Yes, of course Captain. I needed him to look over some paperwork Isaiah wants us to sign off on." The guard stands there not flinching.

Keith takes a couple of steps closer to the young man, but is still very much apart from him in the hallway, "He's at the east end. You can find him there." He repeats.

Nodding quickly, Malikite nervously smiles, "Oh yeah. Yes, sir. Goodnight sir. Goodnight, your Highness."

"Goodnight," Allura answers him as he walks away from them.

"Funny kid." She smiles. "He's new isn't he?"

Nodding Keith answers, "Yes, he's part of Darien's personal security detail, well, when Darien's here. Isaiah hired him about a month ago. He's still learning."

Allura turns to him, "So what was it you were going to tell me?"

Keith smiles at her. Something about the kid bothered him; he didn't know what, but he piled it along the many other things he had to look over now. "Ever since I came back from Doom, I…I just have piled myself with too many duties, but I promise I will take better care of myself." He lies.

Allura looks at him oddly. "Is that it?"

"Yes, that's it. Nothing more. You know me, I'm a workaholic. Can't help it." he tells her nodding carefully.

She smiles at him in agreement, "All right, I hope so. But just so you know, Keith…I'm going to be watching you closely." Allura tells him, seeing through his words that hide the lie beneath them.

"Sure thing, Princess." he answers her. "I really have to go; my shift begins in ten minutes."

"Keith!"

"Don't worry. I slept...a little."

She arches her brows, "How much is a little?"

"Enough Allura. I slept enough. Besides, it's really my shift."

Rolling her eyes, she sighs, "Fine. I'll see you in the morning." She looks at him with a worried look and re-enters her room, pausing in the doorway. "Goodnight Captain." she tells him and mutely mouths, "I love you." to him.

Keith smiles and nods his answer, "Goodnight Princess."

************

Darrell walks to the control room quietly, having slipped out of MedTech unnoticed. After days of apparently being lost in unconsciousness, the last thing he wants to do is to sleep. It is the early hours of the morning and not much is happening, but a small walk around the castle feels like heaven to him at this point.

As he begins to walk in, he hears voices, but they are not from the guards, one is a woman's voice. Peeking in, he notes the two figures sitting by the control desk.

"Feeling a bit better?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now, thanks Selena."

"Call me if you need anything else."

"I will. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Keith."

Darrell listens to the short conversation and had seen Selena inject Keith with some type of medication. He hides by a dark hallway to prevent Selena from seeing him when she walks out, _What's going on?_ He thinks to himself.

He waits about a minute before entering the control room.

"Keith,"

Keith turns his chair around, "Darrell, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at MedTech."

"I couldn't sleep. Just thought I walk around a little before going back." Smiling he states, "You have the graveyard shift."

Keith nods slightly. Darrell finds him a bit pale and tired. He asks, "You feeling all right?"

"Yes, just a bit tired. It's been a rough couple of days."

"I know." Darrell answers, looking down.

"Hey, it could have happened to any of us." Keith acknowledges.

This time Darrell nods. "Are you holding practice tomorrow?"

"You know it," Keith answers with a small smile, "You should return before Gorma finds out. You know what he's like when we disobey him."

"Yeah, I know." Darrell shakes his head. "Good night Captain and thanks for everything."

"Any time. Good night."

Darrell walks out the control room with another question In his mind. _Keith's hiding something._ He needs to speak with Selena.

***********

When he awakens, he feels wet and cold. He smells a musty aroma around him. _That smell_; it reminds him of a place from the past he wants to forget. The place he despises with every cell his body contains.

He opens his eyes and looks around; noticing the darkness, hearing what seems like drops of water coming down from the walls. A small breeze hits his face as he jolts up and cringes_. Oh God, no! Not again!_ He shakes with fear. There is no way he can be back; "Shit!" he yells allowed.

He does not even remember how he got there, _what did I do to return? Was there an attack? Had I been taken unconscious?_ _I don't remember!_ "Damn it!"

When he sits up, noticing he isn't in any pain. "No one hit me!"

He looks around, the hell he was going to stay again in this God forsaken place. "No way!"

As he is about to stand, he notices, right by his side, a box. It looks like an octagonal marble box, black in color. He picks it up, looks it over and notices the top can be twisted. He does so immediately and then an image pops out.

"Hello Commander Holgersson. Welcome back to Planet Doom, and more precisely, the Pit of Skulls."

The story continues in…_The Rescue_


End file.
